Whos Who Worldwide Registry Trial Transcript - Feb 4 - American political prisoners in media blackoutWhos Who Worldwide the victim of Reid Elsevier mobster activities
1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X 3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, : CR 96 1016(S-1) 4 v. : U.S. Courthouse 5 Uniondale, New York BRUCE W. GORDON, WHO'S WHO 6 WORLD WIDE REGISTRY, INC., : STERLING WHO'S WHO, INC., 7 TARA GARBOSKI, ORAL FRANK OSMAN, LAURA WEITZ, ANNETTE 8 HALEY, SCOTT MICHAELSON, : STEVE RUBIN, and MARTIN 9 REFFSIN, : TRANSCRIPT OF TRIAL 10 Defendants. : February 4, 1998 11 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - X 9:35 o'clock a.m.
12 BEFORE:
13 HONORABLE ARTHUR D. SPATT, U.S.D.J.and a jury 14 APPEARANCES: 15 For the Government: ZACHARY W. CARTER 16 United States Attorney One Pierrepont Plaza 17 Brooklyn, New York 11201 By: RONALD G. WHITE, ESQ. 18 CECIL SCOTT, ESQ. Assistant U.S. Attorneys 19 For the Defendants: NORMA
N TRABULUS, ESQ. 20 For Bruce W. Gordon 170 Old Country Road, Suite 600 21 Mineola, New York 11501
22 EDWARD P. JENKS, ESQ. For Who's Who Worldwide 23 Registry, Inc. and Sterling Who's, Who, Inc. 24 332 Willis Avenue Mineola, New York 11501 25 (cont'd)
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2782
1 APPEARANCES (cont'd):
2 GARY SCHOER, ESQ. For Tara Garboski 3 6800 Jericho Turnpike Syosset, New York 11791 4 ALAN M. NELSON, ESQ. 5 For Oral Frank Osman 3000 Marcus Avenue 6 Lake Success, New York 11042
7 WINSTON LEE, ESQ. For Laura Weitz 8 319 Broadway New York, New York 10007 9 MARTIN GEDULDIG, ESQ. 10 For Annette Haley 400 South Oyster Bay Road 11 Hicksville, New York 11801
12 JAMES C. NEVILLE, ESQ. For Scott Michaelson 13 225 Broadway New York, New York 10007 14 THOMAS F.X. DUNN, ESQ. 15 For Steve Rubin
150 Nassau Street 16 New York, New York 10038
17 JOHN S. WALLENSTEIN, ESQ. For Martin Reffsin 18 215 Hilton Avenue Hempstead, New York 11551 19
20 Court Reporter: HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR United States District Court 21 Two Uniondale Avenue Uniondale, New York 11553 22 (516) 485-6558
23 Proceedings recorded by mechanical stenography, transcript 24 produced by Computer-Assisted Transcription 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2783
1 M O R N I N G S E S S I O N
2
3 THE CLERK: Jury entering.
4 (Whereupon, the jury at this time entered the
5 courtroom.)
6 THE COURT: Good morning, members of the prompt,
7 punctual, patient and perfect jury. Have a seat.
8 I am sorry I had to keep you waiting six minutes,
9 because the previous case that was on at 9:00 o'clock, the
10 lawyers didn't come here on time. They were late. I did
11 bring that to their attention, however. But I was delayed
12 a few minutes.
13 Let's proceed.
14 MS. SCOTT: The government calls Jack Heinbaugh.
15 THE CLERK: Please raise your right hand. Please
16 stand and raise your right hand.
17
18 J A C K T H O M A S H E I N B A U G H ,
19 called as a witness, having been first
20 duly sworn, was examined and testified
21 as follows:
22
23 THE CLERK: Please state your name and spell your 24 last name slowly for the record. 25 THE WITNESS: Jack Thomas Heinbaugh,
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2784
1 H E I N B A U G H.
2 THE COURT: Have a seat.
3 You may proceed.
4
5 DIRECT EXAMINATION
6 BY MS. SCOTT:
7 Q Good morning, Mr. Heinbaugh.
8 A Good morning.
9
Q Can you tell us where you live?
10 A Herndon, Virginia, H E R N D O N.
11 Q How are you employed?
12 A I am a TV news producer at the CBS affiliate in
13 Washington, D.C.
14 Q What are your responsibilities as a TV news producer?
15 A Collecting and disseminating the news of the day,
16 deciding whether it is video or copy or how long it runs,
17 where it runs in the news cast.
18 Q And how long have you been doing this job?
19 A I graduated from college in 1978. I have been doing
20 it since then.
21 Q Have you ever been contacted by a company called
22 Who's Who Worldwide Registry?
23 A Yes. 24 Q And did you eventually purchase a membership from 25 them?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2785 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 A Yes.
2 Q Can you tell us when you were first contacted
3 approximately?
4 A I believe it was 1993.
5 Q And how were you first contacted?
6 A By telephone at my work.
7 Q Did you have a conversation with the person who
8 called you?
9 A Yes.
10 Q And can you tell us what happened in the course of
11 this conversation?
12 A Parts of it I can remember as if it was like
13 yesterday. And parts of it I am fuzzy on it. I guess
14 because I was not interested in some parts of it.
15 MR. NELSON: Objection, your Honor. May we have
16 a sidebar for a moment on the issue of conversations?
17 THE COURT: Yes. Come up.
18
19 (Whereupon, at this time the following took place
20 at the sidebar.)
21 MR. NELSON: The slow thinker I am, yesterday I
22 did not object or ask for a limiting instruction relative
23 to the conversations as related to Ms. Rieger. It is my 24 understanding, and I may be wrong,
but the conversations 25 at this point are only admissible against the corporation
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2786 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 and not against any of the defendants, because the
2 government has not demonstrated as of yet the existence of
3 a conspiracy, or any of the members were members of the
4 conspiracy, a statement admissible under 801(d)(2)(E).
5 So I will ask that the conversations be
6 admissible at this point only relating to the conversation
7 and not with respect to any of the defendants.
8 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I don't have a problem
9 with that so long as if there comes a point where your
10 Honor finds that the government has demonstrated by a
11 preponderance that a conspiracy exists, the jury is then
12 instructed that they can consider it against all
13 co-conspirators.
14 THE COURT
: Okay.
15
16 (Whereupon, at this time the following takes
17 place in open court.)
18 THE COURT: Members of the jury, you are going to
19 hear testimony about certain conversations by someone from
20 Who's Who Worldwide. At this point in the case, this
21 testimony is taken against the corporation, Who's Who
22 Worldwide Registry, Inc., and not the individual
23 defendants in the case. I will advise you as we go along 24 whether that changes or not. As you have been told, there 25 is a conspiracy allegation in Count 1.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2787 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 At this point, however, this testimony is only
2 with regard to Who's Who Worldwide Registry, Inc., the
3 corporation, and not the individual defendants.
4 You may proceed.
5 MS. SCOTT: Thank you, your Honor.
6 Q Can you tel
l us what happened in your conversation
7 with the person who called from Who's Who Worldwide?
8 A I was told that I had been nominated by Who's Who for
9 a possible selection to be in the Who's Who book. At the
10 time I was told that I was nominated by someone in my
11 profession. I had been told that that the name of the
12 person could be withheld. Sometime the person who
13 nominated didn't want to be known and that was the case
14 with me.
15 I was told that if I would give them the
16 requested information which I did, that my application
17 would be put before a group of professionals who would
18 weed through them and select only the best of the best. I
19 was told that the vast majority of people who were
20 contacted were not selected. I was told if selected the
21 program had several other benefits to it, and this is the
22 part that I don't remember all of it, because I wasn't
23 really interested, but having to do with -- I can recall 24 something about a credit card, I guess you get a group 25 rate on a credit card. There was the magazine and the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2788 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 plaque. I remember the plaque was definitely part of it.
2 A sticker for the back of a vehicle, art you can use on a
3 resume, things of that nature.
4 And then when I was finally called back and told
5 that I had been accepted, I really didn't have any time to
6 think about it. I guess when I got the phone call they
7 had to know right then if I was interested or not. I
8 don't recall why. But I do recall the feeling that I
9 didn't want to give out my credit card number which I had
10 to do.
11 MR. LEE: Objection.
12 THE COURT: The portion of the testimony about
my
13 feeling about the credit card, that's stricken, and the
14 jury is instructed to disregard it.
15 A I had to make a decision immediately as to whether or
16 not to join.
17 Q Were you told why that was?
18 A I don't recall, unless it was to be --
19 MR. JENKS: Objection.
20 MR. NELSON: Objection.
21 A I don't recall.
22 THE COURT: All right.
23 Q What was the most important thing said to you that 24 made you want to purchase the membership? 25 MR. LEE: Objection as to leading, your Honor.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2789 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 THE COURT: Overruled.
2 A The only reason that I was impressed with this was
3 because it was Who's Who, the company that I thought I had
4 grown up with and studied from all through high school and
5 college, and that I had been nominated
by a peer, a
6 professional in my business, to be included in this book.
7 Q And why did you think the membership would be
8 something that you wanted?
9 A Well, as I was selected to be nominated from someone
10 in my profession, I felt that there would be other
11 individuals who were also nominated in their professions
12 as being the cream of their crop, and that it would be a
13 good place to be with a group of the best of the best, I
14 am embarrassed to say.
15 Q What if any use did you expect to put your membership
16 to?
17 A One use was for my resume, thinking that it was Who's
18 Who, I felt that that would be a good item to put on a
19 resume.
20 Plus, I felt if others were nominated like me and
21 there were a select few of us, and that if I was
22 interested in contacting a person in another company, and
23 I could use the fact that I am
in Who's Who also, and that 24 that would be a benefit. 25 Q I am showing you Government's Exhibit 52-F, as in
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2790 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 Frank, for Identification.
2 (Handed to the witness.)
3 Q Do you recognize that?
4 A Yes.
5 Q What is that?
6 A That is the letter I got acknowledging my acceptance
7 as being in Who's Who.
8 MS. SCOTT: I offer Government's Exhibit 52-F, as
9 in Frank.
10 THE COURT: Any objection?
11 MR. TRABULUS: No.
12 THE COURT: Government's Exhibit 52-F, for Fox,
13 in evidence.
14 (Government's Exhibit 52-FF received in
15 evidence.)
16 Q Can you read the date on that letter, Mr. Heinbaugh?
17 A June 17th, 1993.
18 MR. SCHOER: Your Honor, can we have an
19 instruction that this is being offered at this time
only
20 against the corporation?
21 THE COURT: Yes, it is. As I advised the jury at
22 this point, this evidence is being taken only against the
23 corporation, Who's Who Worldwide Registry, Inc. 24 Q Mr. Heinbaugh, could you please read the first couple 25 of paragraphs on that letter?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2791 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 A Dear Mr. Heinbaugh.
2 You were recently nominated for possible
3 inclusion in the Who's Who Registry for global business
4 leaders.
5 We are pleased to inform you that on June 15th,
6 the office of public affairs accepted your nomination for
7 the Who's Who Registry of global business leaders.
8 Since the majority of new candidates who are
9 nominated are not approved, we wish to extend our
10 congratulations for his coveted event on behalf of the
11 boar
d of public affairs.
12 As inclusion in the Global Edition is
13 confirmation and recognition of exceptional people, the
14 office of public affairs evaluates nominees in accordance
15 with specific standards of achievement.
16 THE COURT: You have to slow down. All of this
17 is taken down. You better repeat that.
18 THE WITNESS: As inclusion in the Global Edition
19 is confirmation and recognition of exceptional people, the
20 office of public affairs evaluates nominees in accordance
21 with specific standards of achievement.
22 The Who's Who Registry is a leading and
23 authoritative reference source of accomplished individuals 24 and their career positions. For the sake of member 25 privileges have, we do not publish phone numbers.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2792 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 MR. LEE: Objection, you
r Honor.
2 THE COURT: On what ground?
3 MR. LEE: I apologize for the interruption, but I
4 think that Ms. Scott identified the exhibit as 52-F as in
5 Frank. I believe there is a mistake in the
6 identification.
7 THE COURT: What do you say is the correct
8 number?
9 MR. LEE: My 52-F is not what I believe the
10 witness is reading from. I have my volume in what was
11 provided by the government.
12 MR. JENKS: There are two 52-Fs.
13 MS. SCOTT: I passed out copies this morning.
14 MR. LEE: I did not receive it, Ms. Scott.
15 MR. TRABULUS: Your Honor, there are two 52 Fs.
16 One passed around today, another given out a while ago.
17 THE COURT: It is understandable, is it not, with
18 all this mass of documents that occasionally there would
19 be wrong numbers.
20 MS. SCOTT: May I renumber it as 52-FF?
21 THE COURT: Let me see if I hav
e it. I don't
22 have it either, and that's serious.
23 MS. SCOTT: I passed it out this morning. 24 THE COURT: All right, 52-FF instead of 52-F? 25 MS. SCOTT: Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2793 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 Your Honor, may I publish 52-FF to the jury?
2 THE COURT: Yes.
3 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
4 to the jury.)
5 Q Mr. Heinbaugh, how much did you pay for this
6 membership in Who's Who Worldwide?
7 A I don't recall exactly. I believe it was a few
8 hundred dollars.
9 Q And how did you pay for it?
10 A Credit card.
11 Q How did you give your credit card number to the
12 people at Who's Who Worldwide?
13 A By telephone.
14 Q I am showing you 52-F, which is the invoice of Who's
15 Who Worldwide.
16 MS. SCOTT: Would you check that?
17 MR. JENKS: Yes.
18 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, 52-F as in Frank, for
19 Identification.
20 (Handed to the witness.)
21 Q Do you recognize that?
22 MR. LEE: Judge, I have an objection.
23 THE COURT: Just one minute, please. 24 MR. LEE: Because I wasn't aware that we were 25 discussing 52-FF, I did not object to its admission, but I
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2794 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 do have an objection as to that.
2 THE COURT: I said just a minute, and I will be
3 right with you.
4 MR. LEE: I apologize, your Honor, and I didn't
5 hear you.
6 THE COURT: For the time being, juror number two,
7 would you hold up on it, put it on the ledge until we get
8 to it.
9 (Whereupon, at this time there was pause in the
10 proceedings.)
11 THE COURT: You are talking about 52-FF?
12 MR. LEE: Yes.
13 THE COURT: You are objecting to it?
14 MR. LEE: Yes.
15 THE COURT: On what ground?
16 MR. LEE: I am not sure, but I am not sure you
17 ruled previously on this type of a document, the generic
18 form of this document. I am not sure. This is what I
19 believe the government has called some sort of a letter
20 sent out.
21 THE COURT: Are you objecting to the foundation
22 that it is not a business record?
23 MR. LEE: Yes, your Honor. 24 THE COURT: I think I did cover all these type 25 records. I am not sure. Did I cover this type of a
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2795 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 record? If I didn't, you will have to cover it, I
2 suppose.
3 MR. SCHOER: Judge, I believe they withdrew that
4 type of document when Ms. Springer was on the stand, and
5 indicate
d they would have another custodian come in. They
6 didn't have another custodian come in.
7 MS. SCOTT: We offered this letter as a letter he
8 received in the mail.
9 THE COURT: His receipt would not make it
10 anything other than hearsay, would it?
11 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I don't think it is. If
12 you want to discuss the legal issue at the sidebar, I
13 don't think it is hearsay.
14 THE COURT: Because of 801(d)(2)?
15 MR. WHITE: No, your Honor.
16 THE COURT: Come up. Now I am curious.
17
18 (Whereupon, at this time the following took place
19 at the sidebar.)
20 THE COURT: Yes. This is interesting.
21 MR. TRABULUS: We are joining in, your Honor.
22 MR. JENKS: Of course, all of us are joining in
23 the objection. 24 THE COURT: Good thinking, Mr. Jenks. 25 MR. JENKS: We were sleeping at the switch this
HARRY RA
PAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2796 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 morning.
2 THE COURT: I can't believe you were sleeping,
3 Mr. Jenks. Maybe Mr. Neville might have been sleeping.
4 You certainly weren't sleeping.
5 I am only kidding, just for the record.
6 MR. TRABULUS: I was between the two 52-F's.
7 MR. WHITE: You are correct you didn't rule with
8 respect to the solicitation records, that was excepted
9 from what you described before.
10 The government didn't have to prove this meets a
11 business exception. We are not offering it for the truth
12 of it. In fact, the entire theory of the indictment is
13 this document is false. It says he was nominated, our
14 whole theory is he wasn't nominated. This is an admission
15 of the corporation. The only foundation that needs to be
16 laid is that he received this letter. It is just for the
17 fact that he was told this is the essence of the crime. I
18 am not suggesting because of the regularity of producing
19 this by the business that it is true. In fact, our whole
20 theory is that it is false. It is not offered for the
21 truth.
22 THE COURT: Mr. White, that was the greatest
23 example of double-talk I ever heard. It is precisely 24 offered for the fact that it was true when it was sent, a 25 true document. The fact that it may have a false
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2797 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 statement in it is not -- do not confuse that for not for
2 the truth.
3 As a matter of fact, I don't think anybody in
4 this country knows the difference between not for the
5 truth, and hearsay for the truth.
6 One thing is for sure. This document is being
7 offered either as an admission or a
s a business record for
8 the truth. In other words, that it was sent. It may have
9 a false representation in it, but you are saying that it
10 is true that they said since the majority of new
11 candidates who are nominated are not approved, etcetera.
12 That's what you are saying, that they sent this.
13 MR. WHITE: That's true, your Honor.
14 THE COURT: Don't confuse not for the truth with
15 a false representation.
16 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, let me make sure, because
17 this issue is going to recur.
18 My understanding is, and it seems to me that what
19 your Honor is talking about is not hearsay, but it is
20 authentication. In other words, we have to establish
21 first that it was in fact Who's Who Worldwide who sent
22 this letter to this man.
23 THE COURT: It is an admission, so it is 24 admissible anyway. 25 MR. WHITE: Right.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2798 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 THE COURT: We are wasting a lot of time.
2 MR. WHITE: Isn't that different from proving
3 that it is hearsay if we are trying to prove the truth of
4 its content?
5 You are saying we have to prove it is an
6 authentic document, right?
7 THE COURT: I am saying that if it is admissible
8 at all, it is admissible for the truth that this was
9 sent.
10 MR. LEE: An assertion by the maker of it.
11 THE COURT: Not that anything in it is true, but
12 the truth that this is the document that was sent.
13 MR. WHITE: But Mr. Heinbaugh just said that that
14 was sent to him. Doesn't that establish this was sent to
15 him by Who's Who Worldwide?
16 THE COURT: If that were so why would we need any
17 rules? Anybody who received anything, it would be
18 admissib
le in evidence. Where does that make it
19 admissible.
20 MR. WHITE: If it is not offered for the truth.
21 THE COURT: I am saying you have to offer it for
22 the truth. I disagree with you on that. This is not
23 something that is notice to him. It is not something 24 involving his state of mind. It is something where you 25 want to prove that this company sent a statement to him
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2799 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 that was false.
2 MR. WHITE: Correct.
3 THE COURT: Well, that's for the truth. Maybe
4 the statement was false, but the document is true.
5 MR. WHITE: Isn't that simply authentication and
6 not hearsay?
7 THE COURT: No. Because him receiving it doesn't
8 make it admissible.
9 MR. WHITE: I don't mean to belabor this, but I
10 am actually confused.
11 It so
unds as if what you are saying is we have to
12 assume, or we have to prove that it was a business record.
13 THE COURT: Or an admission.
14 MR. WHITE: Or an admission.
15 THE COURT: Yes.
16 MR. WHITE: But I don't understand, haven't we
17 proved it is an admission by this gentleman, this witness
18 saying I received this letter from Who's Who Worldwide?
19 THE COURT: But now you are like Gayle Sayers
20 changing 180 degrees in full speed. Let's talk like
21 technicians.
22 MR. WHITE: Okay.
23 THE COURT: This document is hearsay unless it is 24 an admission. 25 MR. WHITE: Or unless it is not proved for the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2800 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 actual truth of it.
2 THE COURT: I am denying your application for the
3 third time, you are not listening carefully. I deny your
4 application that this is not being offered for the truth.
5 Now, it is being offered for the truth, how does
6 it get in?
7 MR. WHITE: It is a corporate admission.
8 THE COURT: It is an admission, yes.
9 MR. WHITE: What I am unclear about, your Honor,
10 is, I can prove that it is an admission by the corporation
11 in several ways. One is to have someone from the
12 corporation saying, yes, we sent out this letter, the
13 other way is to have the recipient saying, yes, I received
14 that letter.
15 THE COURT: I am not arguing on that score.
16 MR. WHITE: Mr. Heinbaugh already had done that.
17 THE COURT: Yes.
18 MR. WHITE: So it is a corporate admission?
19 THE COURT: Yes.
20 MR. WHITE: Their hearsay admission should be
21 overruled.
22 THE COURT: But, but for the last five minutes we
23 are arguing about another grounds. 24 MR
. WHITE: Your admitting it anyway? 25 THE COURT: Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2801 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 MR. JENKS: Objection to someone identifying the
2 document, without someone who prepared the document.
3 THE COURT: Objection overruled on all those
4 bases.
5 MR. LEE: Your Honor, I think Mr. White's
6 argument is disingenuous. I think first that this does
7 not meet the classic definition of an admission whose
8 reliability stems from that it is a declaration against
9 some sort of an interest that is made.
10 THE COURT: Stop, Mr. Lee. It has nothing to do
11 with against interest. As a matter of fact, that's where
12 the state -- I once gave a lecture on the difference
13 between federal and state rules of evidence. One of the
14 interesting differences is in state court an admission has
15 to
be against the interest of the person. An admission in
16 the federal court is just a statement made in the course
17 of business, that's all. It doesn't have to be against
18 anybody's interest. It is a statement. It is a
19 conversation. It is a letter.
20 MR. JENKS: Wouldn't they need a custodian to say
21 that this is a business record prior to the introduction?
22 THE COURT: No. I think the fact that it says
23 Who's Who in print, and that he received it is 24 sufficient. 25 MR. LEE: Judge, I, of course, ask for an
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2802 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 instruction to the jury to make it clear that it is
2 admissible only against the corporation.
3 THE COURT: I said it already. I will not say it
4 again. I said it twice in the last half an hour.
5 MR. SCHOER: I had asked for one.
6
MR. LEE: I heard that, all right.
7 MR. WHITE: I am sorry I misunderstood before,
8 your Honor.
9 THE COURT: All right.
10
11 (Whereupon, at this time the following takes
12 place in open court.)
13 THE COURT: The objection to
14 Government's Exhibit 52-FF, Fox Fox, is overruled. The
15 statement, the document is in evidence and it is against
16 the corporation, Who's Who Worldwide Registry, Inc.
17 You may proceed.
18 MS. SCOTT: Thank you, your Honor.
19 THE COURT: Now, you can continue to look at
20 that, juror two.
21 Q Mr. Heinbaugh, would you take a look at
22 Government's Exhibit 52-F, as in Frank, for
23 Identification, and tell us what that is? 24 A That's my bill, my receipt. 25 Q How did you receive that bill?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2803 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 A In the mail.
2 Q Is that a bill from Who's Who Worldwide?
3 A Yes.
4 MS. SCOTT: I offer Government's Exhibit 52-F as
5 in Frank?
6 THE COURT: Any objection?
7 MR. TRABULUS: No.
8 THE COURT: Government's Exhibit 52-F for Fox in
9 evidence.
10 (Government's Exhibit 52-F received in evidence.)
11 Q Mr. Heinbaugh, do you see the record of your purchase
12 there on that invoice?
13 A Yes.
14 Q And how much does it say you paid for the membership?
15 A $197.
16 Q And what was the length of the membership that you
17 purchased as recorded on that document?
18 A Three year.
19 Q Does the document also contain personal information
20 about yourself on it?
21 A Yes.
22 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, may I publish
23 Government's Exhibit 52-F as in Frank, to the jury? 24 THE COURT: Yes. 25 (Whereupon, the
exhibit/exhibits were published
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2804 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 to the jury.)
2 Q Now, Mr. Heinbaugh, did you receive a plaque?
3 A Yes.
4 Q And did you receive a directory?
5 A Yes.
6 Q What happened when you received the directory?
7 MR. JENKS: Objection.
8 THE COURT: Well, on what grounds?
9 MR. JENKS: I don't see how it can possibly
10 answer that.
11 THE COURT: He is asking a narrative question,
12 what is the next thing that happened? You should like
13 that kind of question, Mr. Jenks.
14 MR. JENKS: I don't like that kind of question,
15 Judge.
16 THE COURT: Okay. You don't, and I do.
17 Overruled.
18 A I was impressed by the size of it. I thought it was
19 a bit bigger by what I had envisioned.
20 Q Did you look through it?
21 A
Yes, I did.
22 Q What did you look through it for?
23 A I was determined to find the name of the person who 24 had nominated me. 25 Q Did you find that person?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2805 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 A I could find no one in the directory that I knew at
2 any point in my life of all the names I went through.
3 Q Did you use the directory for any purpose?
4 A No.
5 Q Did you ever contact anybody in the directory?
6 A No.
7 Q Did anybody in the directory ever contact you?
8 A No one specifically called me saying that they were
9 connected with Who's Who Worldwide. However, I did get a
10 bunch of phone calls from people with New York accents at
11 about this time.
12 THE COURT: With New York accents?
13 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir; with all due respect.
14 THE COURT: Okay.
15 Q Were you contacted again?
16 A Yes.
17 Q Who contacted you?
18 A I was contacted by Sterling Who's Who.
19 Q And when was that approximately?
20 A I believe that was within a year from the original.
21 Q Do you remember how you were contacted by Sterling?
22 A I believe in the case of Sterling I was sent a form
23 to fill out for possible inclusion in the Sterling Who's 24 Who. And that may have come with the paperwork that came 25 from Who's Who. It may not have come separately.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2806 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 I filled out some semblance of a card, I believe,
2 and sent it in.
3 Q I am showing you Government's Exhibit 52 H and 52-D
4 as in Daniel, for Identification.
5 (Handed to the witness.)
6 Do you recognize those?
7 A Yes.
8 Q And what are they?
9 A This is the form where I expressed interest being
10 included in the Sterling directory.
11 Q You are talking about 52-D, as in Daniel?
12 A Yes.
13 Q And what is Government's Exhibit 52-H?
14 A This is the letter informing me that I was comminuted
15 to be included in the Sterling Who's Who directory.
16 MS. SCOTT: I offer Government's Exhibit 52-D and
17 52-H.
18 THE COURT: Any objection?
19 MR. TRABULUS: No.
20 MR. JENKS: No.
21 THE COURT: Government's Exhibits 52-D, for Dog,
22 52-H, for How, in evidence.
23 (Government's Exhibit 52-D received in evidence.) 24 (Government's Exhibit 52-H received in evidence.) 25 Q Mr. Heinbaugh, would you read the first paragraph of
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2807 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 the letter, 52-H.
2 A We are pleased to inform you
that on October 27th you
3 were nominated by our editors for inclusion in the
4 Sterling Who's Who directory.
5 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, may I publish
6 Government's Exhibit 52-H and 52-D?
7 THE COURT: Yes.
8 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
9 to the jury.)
10 Q Now, Mr. Heinbaugh, did anybody from Sterling Who's
11 Who call you?
12 A Yes.
13 Q And did you have a conversation with that person?
14 A Yes.
15 Q What happened in that conversation?
16 A It was a conversation regarding the additional
17 payment, or the payment for the membership, the book, the
18 plaque, and, again, the credit card number, I believe, for
19 payment.
20 Q What were you told about membership in Sterling Who's
21 Who?
22 A What I recall from the cream of the crop, we got the
23 cream of the cream of the crop; that it was a more
24 exclusive membership, and there were more perks involved 25 with it, and another directory, and another plaque.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2808 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 Q Did you agree to purchase a membership in Sterling
2 Who's Who?
3 A Yes, I did.
4 Q Do you remember how much you paid for it?
5 A I believe it was approximately twice the amount of
6 the original. Again, I don't recall exactly, but I think
7 it was 300 and some, maybe almost 400.
8 Q I am showing you Government's Exhibit 52-B as in Boy,
9 for Identification.
10 (Handed to the witness.)
11 Q Do you recognize that?
12 A Yes.
13 Q What is it?
14 A It is my bill for Sterling Who's Who.
15 MS. SCOTT: I offer Government's Exhibit 52-B, as
16 in Boy.
17 THE COURT: Any objection?
18 MR. TRABULUS: No, your Honor.
19 THE COURT: Government's Exhibit 52-B, for Baker,
20 in evidence.
21 (Government's Exhibit 52-B received in evidence.)
22 Q Looking at that document, can you tell us the date?
23 A The date of the invoice is December 5th, 1994. 24 Q Can you tell us about the purchase that is 25 commemorated on that document?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2809 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 A One preferred membership, split billing, in Sterling
2 Who's Who, one Sterling Who's Who custom plaque, one
3 Sterling Who's Who Executive Club edition directory. No
4 additional charge. Membership in Who's Who Executive Club
5 with PR release format. Complimentary privileges and
6 benefits.
7 Q And what is the price it indicates that you paid
8 there for that membership?
9 A $380.
10 MS. SCOTT: May I publish
11 Government's
Exhibit 52-B, your Honor?
12 THE COURT: Yes.
13 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
14 to the jury.)
15 Q Did you receive anything in connection with your
16 membership in Sterling Who's Who?
17 A Yes, I received the plaque.
18 Q Did you receive anything else?
19 A No.
20 Q Now, what eventually happened in connection with your
21 memberships at Who's Who Worldwide and Sterling Who's Who?
22 A They disintegrated. I stopped getting magazines. I
23 never heard about a directory. I was contacted by the 24 postmaster general's office, I believe. 25 THE COURT: You said you did not get a
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2810 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 directory?
2 THE WITNESS: Not with Sterling Who's Who, no.
3 Q Without telling us what you were told by the
4 postmaster, can you tell us wh
at you did?
5 A I filled out a survey of answers to questions.
6 MR. LEE: Objection.
7 THE COURT: Overruled.
8 MR. LEE: It is a non-verbal assertion. It is in
9 writing. It is an assertion.
10 THE COURT: We don't know what it is. It wasn't
11 offered. All he was asked is did he fill something out.
12 Go ahead.
13 A I answered questions in a questionnaire. I made
14 copies of the information that I had received from Who's
15 Who, and I mailed everything in to the address I was
16 requested to mail it to.
17 Q And did you attempt to contact either of the
18 companies, Sterling Who's Who or Who's Who Worldwide after
19 that?
20 A I requested a refund from Who's Who, Sterling Who's
21 Who at about that time.
22 Q And, Mr. Heinbaugh, did you get a refund?
23 A No. 24 MS. SCOTT: I have no further questions. 25 THE COURT: All righ
t.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2811 Heinbaugh-direct/Scott
1 Cross-examination.
2 MR. TRABULUS: Thank you, your Honor.
3
4 CROSS-EXAMINATION
5 BY MR. TRABULUS:
6 Q Good morning, Mr. Heinbaugh. My name is Norman
7 Trabulus, and I am here for Bruce Gordon.
8 I don't know if you recall, but when you read
9 your Tribute Magazine, did you see any articles signed by
10 Bruce Gordon?
11 A I don't recall the name.
12 Q Mr. Heinbaugh, tell me what kinds of things you do as
13 a producer?
14 A Disseminate news of the day, make judgments on what
15 is news and what isn't news, how to narrow down the events
16 of the day into an hour.
17 Q Have there been news programs that you yourself have
18 produced?
19 A Yes.
20 Q Is that in the Washington, D.C. area?
21 A Yes.
22 Q Have you received any recognition in the Washington,
23 D.C. area for the quality of your news broadcasts? 24 A Yes, I have. 25 Q Have you gotten any awards?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2812 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 A Yes, I have.
2 Q Is it fair to say that you are well regarded and well
3 respected in your profession in the Washington, D.C. area?
4 A Yes, it is.
5 Q Have you attended any national -- I don't know how it
6 is done in the news industry, but I assume there are
7 national conventions or national organizations of people
8 who are news producers, or in that business. Are you a
9 member of any of those?
10 A No.
11 Q Is there some sort of national -- withdrawn.
12 Within CBS, have you received any award or
13 recognition for what you have done?
14 A No.
15 Q But you are
well regarded and received recognition in
16 the Washington, D.C. area; is that correct?
17 A I believe by virtue of surviving in Washington, D.C.
18 since 1983 and still having a job in this business, there
19 is some semblance of recognition.
20 Q What are the names of shows you produced?
21 A Eyewitness News at 4.
22 That I have or do produce?
23 Q Both. Why not just go up to the point of 1993. Up 24 to 1993 what did you produce? What did you produce? 25 A Eyewitness News at 11, Eyewitness News at 5,
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2813 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 Eyewitness News at 4, Redskins post game show.
2 Q Is it fair to say that among the things that the CBS
3 affiliates in the Washington, D.C. area show, these are
4 major, major shows; is that fair to say? They occupy
5 periods of time and are widely viewed
?
6 A Yes.
7 Q Has the CBS affiliate in the Washington, D.C. area
8 done well in respect of viewership since you have been a
9 producer?
10 A Yes, and no.
11 Q Now, when you received a letter -- withdrawn.
12 The very first contact you had from Who's Who
13 Worldwide was when you received the solicitation letter
14 which I think has been marked as 52-FF. I am going to
15 show it to you.
16 When you received this, was that the very first
17 contact you had with Who's Who Worldwide?
18 (Handed to the witness.)
19 A No.
20 Q Had you received something before that?
21 A A telephone call.
22 Q You got a telephone call first before you got
23 anything in writing? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And after that you got this in writing; is that
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2814 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 correct? With a card?
2 A Yes.
3 Q Now, when you got that telephone call, you didn't
4 agree to pay at that point in time, did you?
5 A As I wasn't accepted at that time, so, no.
6 Q So, your agreement to become a member came after you
7 received this letter; is that correct, in another
8 telephone call?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Now, when you received this letter -- let me ask you
11 this: Did anybody -- when you spoke to the people in this
12 telephone call, nobody told you that they Who's Who were
13 in America, were they -- did they?
14 A As I recall, the conversation was Who's Who.
15 Q Just Who's Who; is that correct?
16 A Who's Who.
17 Q Now, when you got this letter, did you know right
18 under where it says Who's Who Worldwide, it says in
19 quotes, the largest Who's Who membership organization in
20 the world? Did you see that
? Did you take note of that
21 at the time?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Now, did that suggest to you that there might be some 24 other Who's Whos? 25 A There are other Who's Whos as far as Who's Who among
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2815 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 high school athletes, high school students, there are all
2 sorts of Who's Whos.
3 Q Were you aware of that at the time you joined up?
4 A I was aware that there are different Who's Whos, all
5 based with the main company, I felt.
6 Q Okay.
7 Now, that was your feeling, that there was only
8 one company and all Who's Whos were related to each other;
9 is that correct?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And nobody in any of these telephone calls
12 specifically told you that; is that correct?
13 A Nobody told me they were not related to the famous
14 Wh
o's Who.
15 Q Did anybody tell you that all the Who's Whos in the
16 world were part of the same Who's Who organization?
17 A No.
18 Q In fact, the letter says we are the largest Who's Who
19 membership organization in the world; is that correct?
20 A Yes.
21 Q In fact, as you sit here today, do you have any
22 reason to believe that among Who's Who membership
23 organizations, Who's Who Worldwide was not in fact the 24 largest Who's Who membership organization? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2816 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 Q You received a book, a directory; is that correct?
2 A Yes.
3 Q Was this the one you received? Was this the color of
4 it?
5 A Yes, it was red.
6 MR. TRABULUS: I am referring to
7 Defendant's Exhibit Q in evidence.
8 Now, you said you went through it,
and you looked
9 to see if there was anybody you knew; is that correct?
10 A Yes.
11 Q In going through it, did you notice if there were
12 other people with CBS affiliations in it?
13 A I found no one with any affiliation to television in
14 it.
15 Q You found no one with any affiliation to television
16 in it? Did you read each page?
17 A No. I was looking for names of people I worked with
18 and history --
19 Q So, there were a specific group of people, a specific
20 group of names, and you were looking up the specific group
21 of names; is that correct?
22 A Yes, people I knew.
23 Q And how many names was that about? 24 A My guess would be less than a hundred. 25 Q Now, did these include people in New York?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2817 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 A A few, I guess.
2 Q The headquarters of CBS is in New York; is that
3 correct?
4 A Yes.
5 Q As you sit here today -- withdrawn.
6 When you got the Tribute Magazines, did you see
7 any nomination ballots in the Tribute Magazines?
8 A Yes.
9 Q So, did you ever yourself nominate anybody utilizing
10 any of those ballots?
11 A No.
12 Q Did you think about doing that?
13 A No.
14 Q Nobody told you that you couldn't do it, did they?
15 A I was told specifically that I could.
16 Q That you could.
17 Do you know whether or not as you sit here as to
18 whether or not you were selected from a mailing list, or
19 whether you were nominated by somebody? Do you know one
20 way or another?
21 A No.
22 Q Now, is it fair to say that although you couldn't
23 find any of the names that you thought might have been of 24 people who had nomin
ated you, you were still satisfied 25 with your membership in Who's Who Worldwide?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2818 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 A Yes.
2 Q And in fact, you were so satisfied that when it came
3 time that you were invited to become a member of Sterling
4 Who's Who at a high price for perhaps a longer period
5 membership, you agreed to do that; is that correct?
6 A Yes.
7 Q And you agreed to do that even though you had already
8 in reading the book discovered that none of the people
9 whom you thought might have nominated you were in the
10 book; is that correct?
11 A Yes.
12 Q So that obviously didn't affect your decision as to
13 whether or not to become a member of Sterling Who's Who;
14 is that correct, it certainly didn't make you not --
15 A The inability to find a name in the book did n
ot get
16 in the way of me choosing to join Sterling Who's Who.
17 Q Mr. Heinbaugh, I will show you what has been called
18 as Defendant's Exhibit C in evidence, which is volume 4 of
19 Tribute.
20 Do you recall getting this magazine?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And do you recall reading a profile of Diane Diamond,
23 a senior correspondent for Hard Copy? 24 A I do not recall, but I guess that I do read it. 25 Q And Hard Copy is a CBS production?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2819 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 A Is that true?
2 Q I am asking you.
3 A I don't believe so.
4 Q It mentions that Hard Copy had been with CBS?
5 A Yes.
6 Q It is a CNN. It shows you how much TV I watch.
7 Now, as you are there today, do you personally
8 know from having reviewed any directories how many CBS
9 people who wo
rked for CBS, or had an affiliation with it,
10 were members of Who's Who Worldwide?
11 A No.
12 Q Do you know who Howard Stringer is?
13 A Yes.
14 Q Who is Howard Stringer?
15 A CBS president, former affiliate.
16 MR. TRABULUS: Bear with me a moment.
17 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
18 proceedings.)
19 Q I will show you not the book you got, but another
20 one, which is also in evidence, and that is called
21 Defendant's Exhibit P. And this is my copy.
22 We are at page 766, I will point to an entry,
23 would you read that. 24 A Howard Stringer, president, CBS Broadcasting Group, 25 51 --
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2820 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 Q You don't have to read the rest of it.
2 Would it please you to be a member of the same
3 registry of Howard St
ringer? He is certainly someone you
4 would not seem to be unhappy to be with him?
5 A If he was nominated by his peers, I would be happy to
6 be included in the same book with him.
7 Q If he had voluntarily joined it, would you be happy
8 to be included in the same book? Yes or no, sir?
9 A No.
10 Q Did you hear anything about any networking parties?
11 A I am sorry?
12 MR. TRABULUS: Withdrawn.
13 Q Did you ever hear of any networking opportunities at
14 Who's Who, anybody talk to you about that?
15 A I believe some of the literature made references to
16 gatherings for networking opportunities. But I think it
17 was always in the works.
18 Q Okay.
19 Did anybody ever speak to you about a CD-ROM?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Did anybody ever suggest that you buy the CD-ROM?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Did you buy it? 24 A No. 25 Q What was
the price that it was offered for you to buy
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2821 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 it? Do you recall?
2 A It might have been, I don't recall.
3 Q Are you familiar with the price of CD-ROM type
4 directories?
5 A I am sorry, I do not.
6 Q Do you own a computer?
7 A Yes.
8 Q That has a CD-ROM capacity?
9 A Yes, I do.
10 Q Have you bought CD-ROMs?
11 A Only the ones that came with the computer, and for
12 the kids.
13 Q All right.
14 A Sorry.
15 Q Would it be of any significance to you how many other
16 people who had CBS affiliations were in the directories?
17 A It would depend on how they got there.
18 Q Okay.
19 So, if I were to go through the book utilizing
20 information in the CD-ROM, showing you a group of people
21 who were members of
CBS as being members, it would be of
22 no interest to you unless each one was separately
23 nominated; is that correct? 24 A Well, I have my own directory of people who were in 25 CBS. If I was interested in contacting Howard Stringer, I
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2822 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 could do it that way.
2 Q But just for the appropriateness of you being in the
3 directory -- withdrawn.
4 From what I gather, your first dissatisfaction
5 with Who's Who and Sterling arose after, as you put it, it
6 disintegrated; is that correct?
7 A The whole premise of it collapsed.
8 Q Up until that point you were happy with it; is that
9 correct?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And you would have continued on happy with it?
12 A Until I never got the book, the second book. So, I
13 guess at some point I would have
become unhappy.
14 Q And your unhappiness now is directed at Who's Who; is
15 that correct?
16 A My unhappiness is directed at being included in a
17 book in which I wasn't nominated for.
18 Q Do you know whether you were nominated or not?
19 A Show me the nomination.
20 Q Let me ask you this: When you were -- do you believe
21 that the reason you didn't get the book, the second book,
22 is because Who's Who or Sterling decided not to send it to
23 you? 24 A I have no -- nothing to base that on. I honestly 25 don't know if the company is still in business.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2823 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Did you speak to Inspector Biegelman at any point in
2 time, a postal inspector?
3 A I don't believe so.
4 Q Did you ever tell either Mr. White or Ms. Scott, or
5 any of the postal i
nspectors, that your unhappiness with
6 Who's Who and Sterling, didn't begin until after the
7 company disintegrated?
8 A I don't believe so. It began with the questionnaire.
9 Q Did they ever say that it disintegrated only after
10 they raided it?
11 A No. I have no -- like I say, I have no clue whether
12 it is still going or not.
13 Q Did they explain to you that this was a criminal case
14 that you were coming to testify in?
15 A No. Maybe. I don't recall that.
16 Q Are you aware that the people who are here -- well,
17 not talking about the lawyers, of course, but talking
18 about the other people who are on this side of the room,
19 are charged with a crime in connection with Who's Who and
20 Sterling?
21 A That is not for me to determine.
22 Q No. Was that explained to you? Was it explained to
23 you by the people who called you here as a witn
ess? 24 A I was only asked to talk about what I knew about my 25 contact. Virtually nothing about the company was told to
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2824 Heinbaugh-cross/Trabulus
1 me.
2 Q Would you be impressed to see if any other people who
3 were employed by CBS were members of the organization?
4 A Not really.
5 Q Okay, then we won't.
6 No further questions.
7 MR. JENKS: I have a few questions, your Honor.
8
9 CROSS-EXAMINATION
10 BY MR. JENKS:
11 Q Good morning, Mr. Heinbaugh. My name is Mr. Jenks.
12 You joined both Who's Who Worldwide and Sterling
13 Who's Who. Am I correct?
14 A Yes.
15 Q When you joined Sterling Who's Who, that was a year
16 subsequent to you being a member of Who's Who Worldwide;
17 am I right?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Were you aware when you j
oined Sterling Who's Who and
20 you were calling and getting calls from the people in New
21 York, that Sterling Who's Who was another company within
22 the Who's Who organization that it was essentially the
23 same company? 24 A I believed that it was perhaps the same company, but 25 different branches of like the same company.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2825 Heinbaugh-cross/Jenks
1 Q In fact, is it fair to say that you probably believed
2 that Sterling Who's Who was in fact a -- like a Cadillac
3 product as opposed to maybe an Oldsmobile of Who's Who
4 Worldwide; would that be a fair statement?
5 A Yes.
6 Q In other words, that Sterling Who's Who was a more
7 elite type of membership organization?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Is that correct?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Is it a fair statement to say here in front of the
12 jury that when you were a member of Who's Who Worldwide
13 back in 1993, you were satisfied with being a member in
14 Who's Who Worldwide; is that correct?
15 A Yes.
16 Q When you received the book, you said in the mail, the
17 Registry, you were impressed with the size of it, am I
18 right?
19 A I thought it was larger than it would have been. But
20 I was impressed, I guess negatively.
21 Q You were impressed that it had that many names?
22 A Yes.
23 Q You didn't expect it to be that large? 24 A Not quite so large. But I am trying to remember how 25 big the Who's Whos were as I was reading them.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2826 Heinbaugh-cross/Jenks
1 Q When you bargained for your membership with Who's Who
2 Worldwide, when you gave them your credit card, and they
3 charged you the fee, you rec
eived a Registry, am I
4 correct, the book?
5 A I believe at sometime thereafter.
6 Q And you paid an additional $97 to obtain that
7 Registry?
8 A I believe so.
9 Q And you had no problem with that?
10 A No.
11 Q That was not misrepresented to you by anybody in the
12 corporation that there was an additional charge for the
13 book; am I correct?
14 A No. In talking about the Who's Who?
15 Q Right.
16 A The first one?
17 Q Right.
18 A I believe that I would be paying an additional charge
19 at printing.
20 Q In other words, would you pay a membership fee up
21 front which you agreed to do?
22 A Yes.
23 Q And you were told there would be split billing you 24 would pay for the Registry when it was published; is that 25 right?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2827 H
einbaugh-cross/Jenks
1 A Yes.
2 Q And you agreed to do that; am I right?
3 A Yes.
4 Q Besides the Registry, you got a plaque; am I right?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Did you put the plaque any place in your office at
7 CBS or at home or at any place you might work?
8 A At home.
9 Q You put it up at home?
10 A Yes.
11 Q In your den or in your living room or something?
12 A Yes, library.
13 Q In your library, okay.
14 And did other people come in your house and see
15 the plaque?
16 A I don't recall, no.
17 Q All right.
18 How about the logo? Did you use the logo on your
19 resume or on the back of anything?
20 A No. I couldn't use the logo. I did, however, use
21 the name Who's Who on my resume.
22 Q You did use the name, correct?
23 A Yes. 24 Q And you sent your resumes out with your name? 25 A Yes
.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2828 Heinbaugh-cross/Jenks
1 Q Who's Who?
2 A Yes.
3 Q On your resume?
4 A Yes.
5 Q Do you know what impact, if any that had --
6 A No.
7 Q With respect to anyone?
8 A No. I never got a job.
9 Q Did anyone call you about -- you are still with the
10 same place?
11 A Yes.
12 Q CBS?
13 A Yes.
14 Q Right?
15 A Yes.
16 Q And did anybody call you about being a Who's Who
17 member after putting it on your resume?
18 A No.
19 Q You did use it?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Because you felt it had a certain value?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Is that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q As you sit here are you aware that there are hundreds
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2829 Heinbaugh-cross/J
enks
1 of organizations of Who's Who in the United States today?
2 A No, absolutely not.
3 Q You are not aware that no one has a monopoly -- let
4 me withdraw that.
5 You are not aware that no one has the exclusive
6 use of the name Who's Who?
7 A I am now aware of that but --
8 THE COURT: Mr. Heinbaugh, you have to wait to
9 let the question conclude before you answer, so you will
10 not be answering at the same time that the lawyer is
11 finishing the question.
12 THE WITNESS: Yes.
13 THE COURT: Let there be a slight pause, okay?
14 THE WITNESS: Yes.
15 Q You are now aware now that no one has the exclusive
16 use of the name Who's Who; am I correct?
17 A Yes.
18 Q Now, how many times prior to your testifying here
19 today have you spoken with the government?
20 A Does spoken with include voice mail messages?
21 Q Let
's say actual conversations, forget the voice
22 mail.
23 A Perhaps five. 24 Q Who specifically have you spoken with from the 25 government?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2830 Heinbaugh-cross/Jenks
1 A The initial paperwork came to me from Al Pagano.
2 Subsequent to that Mr. White and Ms. Scott. I believe
3 that's it.
4 Q You spoke to them on the telephone, am I correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Did you come to New York to meet with them prior to
7 testifying here today?
8 A No.
9 Q You said you requested a refund from Sterling Who's
10 Who, but you never got a refund; is that correct?
11 A Yes.
12 Q And is it fair to say the reason you requested a
13 refund from Who's Who is because you got this
14 questionnaire from the United States postal inspectors; is
15 that correct?
16 A That'
s the first clue I had that I wasn't nominated.
17 Q Let me take a look at the documents with you.
18 MR. JENKS: Are they up there, Ms. Scott?
19 MS. SCOTT: It should be up there.
20 Q Your Sterling Who's Who membership here, the
21 effective date of the membership was December 1st, 1994;
22 is that correct?
23 A Yes. 24 Q And it does say on that form, am I right, that there 25 is no cost or obligation to be a member of Sterling Who's
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2831 Heinbaugh-cross/Jenks
1 Who, correct?
2 A It --
3 Q I am sorry, let me withdraw that.
4 Take a look at the letter. Take a look at 52-H,
5 at the bottom.
6 It does indicate, does it not, that your
7 inclusion in Sterling Who's Who is without cost or
8 obligation on your part?
9 A Yes.
10 Q And that is also, by the way, in the letter that you
11 received, 52-FF, in evidence, from Who's Who Worldwide; is
12 that correct?
13 A I believe so.
14 Q That's at the bottom, if you just take a look again.
15 A Yes.
16 Q There is no cost or obligation?
17 A Uh-huh.
18 Q Now, you became a member, for the record, of Who's
19 Who Worldwide October 13th, 1993, am I right?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And approximately a year later you became a member of
22 Sterling Who's Who?
23 A Yes. 24 Q December 1st, 1994, right? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2832 Heinbaugh-cross/Jenks
1 Q And then you received at some point after your
2 membership in Sterling Who's Who, a letter from the United
3 States postal inspectors, right?
4 A Yes.
5 Q And it was that letter, and that questionnaire, that
6 prompted you
to become dissatisfied and request a refund
7 from Sterling; am I right?
8 A Yes.
9 Q And you said you never got the book from Sterling
10 Who's Who; is that right?
11 A Yes.
12 Q And did you pay for the book from Sterling Who's Who?
13 A No.
14 Q Do you know as you sit here today that you joined
15 December 1st, 1994, am I right, Sterling Who's Who?
16 A Yes.
17 Q Do you know that on March 30th, 1995 the United
18 States Government arrested 29 employees of Who's Who
19 Worldwide and Sterling Who's Who?
20 A I have no knowledge about Who's Who Worldwide, or
21 what has happened to it.
22 Q Do you know as you sit here today a book was yet to
23 be published after your membership of December 1st, 1994 24 from Sterling Who's Who? 25 A I have no knowledge.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2833 Heinbaugh-cross/Jenks
1 Q Okay.
2 As you sit here today, did you ever get a refund
3 from Sterling Who's Who?
4 A No.
5 Q You sent your refund letter to Sterling Who's Who
6 when, sir?
7 A 1995.
8 Q Is it fair to say you sent a refund letter on June
9 23rd, 1995?
10 A I believe so.
11 Q Take a look at 52-E for Identification.
12 (Handed to the witness.)
13 Q Do you see that, sir?
14 A Yes.
15 Q Does that refresh your recollection as to when you
16 sent your refund letter to Sterling Who's Who?
17 A Yes.
18 Q You sent it June 23rd, 1995; is that correct?
19 A Yes.
20 Q Are you aware that the United States Government
21 seized all the assets of the corporation of Who's Who
22 Worldwide and Sterling Who's Who at the end of March,
23 1995? 24 A I have no knowledge of what happened to Who's Who
25 Worldwide.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2834 Heinbaugh-cross/Jenks
1 Q Are you aware that the United States Government
2 effectively at the end of March, 1995, closed down both
3 corporations, Who's Who Worldwide and Sterling Who's Who,
4 so there was no one left to give you a refund?
5 A I have no knowledge of the company at all.
6 Q Are you aware that the United States Government took
7 all the assets in the bank accounts of these companies and
8 froze them?
9 A No, I am not.
10 Q Okay.
11 MR. JENKS: I have nothing further, Judge.
12 THE COURT: Anything else?
13
14 CROSS-EXAMINATION
15 BY MR. LEE:
16 Q Good morning, Mr. Heinbaugh.
17 A Good morning.
18 Q Am I correct that after you received the Registry,
19 which is Defendant's Exhibit Q, you stated you took some
20 time to review the contents of this book, is that correct,
21 Defendant's Exhibit Q?
22 A Yes.
23 Q And you stated one of the reasons you reviewed it is 24 to try to see if you could ascertain who might have been a 25 person who had nominated you, correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2835 Heinbaugh-cross/Lee
1 A I was looking for the name of the person who
2 nominated me, yes.
3 Q You did not see the name of anyone that you
4 recognized that you thought might have been a person who
5 nominated you, correct?
6 A I could find no one in the book that I knew.
7 Q Now, at that time did you come to a conclusion that
8 you had not been nominated?
9 A I would have had no reason to conclude that, no.
10 Q So, you didn't know either way? Do you understand my
11 question, sir.
12 A I believe I under
stand your question. I did not
13 know -- I would have not come up with the thought that I
14 hadn't been nominated.
15 Q So, you --
16 A I didn't think it was a scam at that point.
17 Q So, after reviewing, and you stated, you reviewed it
18 very carefully, and you didn't find anyone that was a
19 possibility of someone who would have nominated you?
20 A No. I couldn't find anyone in there that I know.
21 Now, Howard Stringer is in there. He doesn't
22 know me. So I wouldn't have looked for his name.
23 Q So, at that point in time when you didn't find anyone 24 who was even a likely person to have nominated you, would 25 it be fair to say that you suspected paragraphs that you
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2836 Heinbaugh-cross/Lee
1 had not been nominate?
2 A No, I would have had no reason to have that thought
3 implanted in my mind. Why would I?
4 Q Well, you didn't find anybody that you could even
5 imagine might have nominated you, correct? Is that
6 correct?
7 A I could not find anyone who I thought would have
8 nominated me.
9 Q Did that leave you, your thought process, to suspect
10 that perhaps you may not have been nominated?
11 A Not at all.
12 There are various memberships, one year, or a
13 three year life term, that I could have been nominated by
14 someone whose three year membership would have been
15 expired for all I know, but I have no idea that any of
16 this was going on, so I didn't have a negative thought
17 about the book.
18 Q Did you ever -- did you ever call Who's Who Worldwide
19 after receiving the Registry to try to inquire as to who
20 would have nominated you?
21 A As I recall, I asked during a phone call. I did not
22 make a call to find out who had nominated me. I asked
23 during a phone call as to who had nominated me, and I was 24 told in some instances the people wished to remain 25 anonymous, and that was the case now.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2837 Heinbaugh-cross/Lee
1 Q Now, this phone call that you just referred to, that
2 occurred before you received this Registry?
3 A I believe so, yes.
4 Q And I am talking about after you received the
5 Registry and reviewed it, did you call up and inquire as
6 to who may have nominated you?
7 A I don't believe so. It would have been pointless. I
8 got an answer to my question on a previous call.
9 Q But then on the previous call, subsequent to the
10 previous call, you had an opportunity on your own to
11 review that red book, Defendant's Exhibit Q, did you not?
12 A Yes.
13 Q On your own?
14 A Yes.
15 Q And you did not find anyone that you thought might
16 have nominated you, correct?
17 A True.
18 Q And if I am correct, you did not call Who's Who to
19 inquire? It was not something you called them to express
20 concern about; is that correct?
21 A That's correct. Why would I?
22 Q I don't know. I am asking you, was there anything
23 that concerned you to cause you to call them and express 24 your concern as to why you didn't recognize anybody who 25 may have nominated you? You didn't have any concern, and
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2838 Heinbaugh-cross/Lee
1 nothing -- you didn't want to call to find that out,
2 right? Is that correct?
3 A It was pointless. I already got the answer to the
4 question on a previous call. If I call you 20 times you
5 will gi
ve me the same answer, if that's the answer.
6 Q You had your own independent basis now to be
7 concerned, right? Didn't you?
8 A Not really.
9 Q You were not concerned about that at all?
10 A Why would I be? No. Like I said, the person who
11 nominated me could have had their membership expire, or I
12 just could not have been thinking of the person.
13 Q But you told us that that was your primary interest.
14 A It definitely was, in buying.
15 Q When you looked at the book and didn't see anybody,
16 you did not feel concerned enough to inquire?
17 A That's face value. That's correct. That's at face
18 value.
19 Q And -- I am sorry, I interrupted you.
20 And one of the reasons was that you were curious
21 as to who had nominated you, correct?
22 A One of the reasons what?
23 Q You were curious as to who might have nominated you, 24 correct?
25 A Yes, I was curious.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2839 Heinbaugh-cross/Lee
1 Q And when you did not see the name in a book that you
2 recognized, you were not interested enough to call Who's
3 Who and say, is it a person who may have had their
4 membership expire? That didn't occur to you, you didn't
5 do that?
6 A I was already told that the person would not be
7 named, requested anonymity.
8 Q I am correct, so it is clear, after you received this
9 Registry and reviewed it, you did agree to purchase
10 another membership in Sterling, correct?
11 A Yes.
12 Q And that Sterling purchase was after there was a
13 discussion with a person over the money pretty much
14 similar to what the discussion had been the first time at
15 Who's Who Worldwide, correct?
16 A The person on the phone with Who's
Who, Sterling?
17 Q What I am saying, the discussion with the Sterling
18 person was pretty much similar with the discussion you had
19 with the person on the phone about Who's Who Worldwide?
20 Do you recall?
21 A Yes.
22 Q Similar?
23 A Pretty similar. 24 Q And after that subsequent discussion with Sterling, 25 you purchased a membership with Sterling also, correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2840 Heinbaugh-cross/Lee
1 A Yes.
2 MR. LEE: Just one moment.
3 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
4 proceedings.)
5 Q And to this day, you never found out who may or may
6 not have nominated you, you to this day do not know if you
7 were or were not nominated; is that correct?
8 A Correct.
9 Q Has the government told you that you were not
10 nominated?
11 A The go
vernment has not told me that I was not
12 nominated.
13 MR. LEE: Thank you.
14 Q But you don't know that yourself, as to whether or
15 not it is a fact or not? You are basing it on what
16 somebody told you; is that right?
17 A It doesn't matter. It is a book of people who are
18 not chosen as experts in their field. I don't care to be
19 in a book.
20 Q Who has told you that? It is not based on your own
21 knowledge? Someone has told you that; is that right?
22 A I have to agree with you there.
23 Q It has been the government who told you that, right? 24 A Yes. Subsequent to 1995. 25 MR. LEE: Thank you.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2841 Heinbaugh-cross/Geduldig
1 THE COURT: Anything else?
2 MR. GEDULDIG: A few questions, Judge.
3
4 CROSS-EXAMINATION
5 BY MR. GEDULDIG:
6
Q Mr. Heinbaugh, do you remember the name of the
7 salesperson that you spoke to from Who's Who?
8 A No.
9 Q You filled out a questionnaire for the government at
10 sometime; is that correct?
11 A Yes.
12 Q I am referring to item 3500-JH-1.
13 I will ask you to look at question 6. Is that
14 the question you filled out?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Is that your handwriting there?
17 A Yes.
18 Q Did you name the person that you spoke to from Who's
19 Who?
20 A That is a person --
21 Q The question is: Did you fill in the name of a
22 person you spoke to at Who's Who?
23 A Yes. 24 Q What is the name you wrote down? 25 A Joseph Parks.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2842 Heinbaugh-cross/Geduldig
1 Q Would it surprise you to know that Joseph Parks is
2 not in the room at this moment
?
3 A No, it would not surprise me to know that.
4 Q Now, you graduated from college in 1978?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Is that right?
7 A Yes.
8 Q And did you begin working in the Washington, D.C.
9 area soon after you graduated college?
10 A I began in Washington in 1983.
11 Q Okay.
12 You have been there now going on 15 years?
13 A Yes, sir.
14 Q You are married?
15 A Yes, sir.
16 Q Have children?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And this is probably the area where you will more or
19 less finish out your career, do you believe?
20 A Yes.
21 Q It wouldn't bother you if that should happen?
22 A True.
23 Q You got friends and your kids have friends in the 24 area? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2843 Heinbaugh-cross/Geduldig
1 Q So, you certainly weren't join
ing Who's Who with the
2 thought in mind that you would use that book to network to
3 try to get a higher position with Mr. Stringer in New York
4 or some affiliate in Los Angeles, or something like that,
5 a bigger market?
6 A You are assuming that I would stay in the same
7 field. No, I would not do that.
8 THE COURT: No, you not?
9 THE WITNESS: I would not use that book to get
10 names of people in television to network with.
11 Q When you joined -- let me rephrase my question. When
12 you joined, when you sent in your -- I guess you said you
13 could charge it, they could charge it to your credit
14 card.
15 A Yes.
16 Q At that point when you were joining before you even
17 got the Registry, you were not intending to use the
18 directory or Registry to network into a better position in
19 a bigger area, in New York or Los Angeles?
20 A T
rue. Not in this business.
21 Q Now, prior to receiving questionnaires from the
22 government, the questionnaire I just showed you, and I
23 think you got a second solicitation questionnaire from the 24 government as well; is that right? There were two forms 25 that the postal authorities sent you; is that right?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2844 Heinbaugh-cross/Geduldig
1 A I don't recall the second one. You can show it to me
2 to maybe refresh my mind. That may be true.
3 Q I am showing you now what has been marked as item
4 3500-SH-2, I believe.
5 MR. WHITE: JH.
6 MR. GEDULDIG: JH-2.
7 Q Let me show you this and ask you if that is a form
8 you received from the government.
9 (Handed to the witness.)
10 A Yes.
11 Q And your handwriting appears on that form; is that
12 right?
13 A Yes.
14 Q And that's a solicitation from the government to you
15 in which the government asks you if you would come here
16 and testify against these people; is that right?
17 What I will ask you to do is to turn to the very
18 last page, the very last question. And let me help you
19 with that.
20 Do you see the very last page of JH-2? You see
21 the last question?
22 A Yes.
23 Q That's a government solicitation, right? 24 A Yes. 25 Q They are asking you if you will come here and testify
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2845 Heinbaugh-cross/Geduldig
1 against these people, right?
2 A I didn't write that, I don't believe. I don't think
3 this is my writing.
4 Q Is everything else on that form your writing?
5 A Yes.
6 Q JH-2, is several pages, it is several pages in
7 length; is that right?
8 A Yes, it is, but this doesn't look like my writing.
9 Q Let me ask you to go to page 1 of JH-2. And if you
10 would, it is one, two, three, four pages in length. Just
11 go through those four pages and tell me if that is your
12 handwriting on that form.
13 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
14 proceedings.)
15 Q Let me rephrase my question.
16 Did you have a telephone conversation with a
17 postal inspector or someone from the government, in which
18 they asked the questions that appear in that
19 solicitation? Do you remember --
20 A I believe so, yes.
21 Q Okay.
22 Now, what is written down there are your answers
23 to the questions posed to you by the government; is that 24 right? By the government postal inspector or someone else 25 from the government.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
2846 Heinbaugh-cross/Geduldig
1 A Yes, it could be.
2 Q Okay.
3 The answers that appear there reflect what your
4 answers were on the telephone; is that right?
5 A Yes.
6 Q And the last question on that solicitation, the
7 government asked you, if you would be willing to come and
8 testify against these people; is that right?
9 A Yes.
10 Q And you answered that you would be willing to come
11 and testify; is that right?
12 A Yes.
13 Q And up to that point in time, would it be fair to say
14 that you had no thoughts of trying to file any kind of
15 criminal complaint against Who's Who or Joseph Parks, the
16 salesman you dealt with, or anybody else that was part of
17 the organization?
18 A Yes.
19 Q You had filed no complaints at all against the
20 company; isn't that right?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And you d
idn't do anything until the government
23 solicited you to come in and file a complaint and testify; 24 isn't that right? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2847 Heinbaugh-cross/Geduldig
1 Q And you didn't even file for a refund until the
2 government postal inspectors or someone from the
3 government, the U.S. attorney's office came to you; is
4 that right?
5 A Yes.
6 Q The government was behind your motivation to come
7 here today; is that right?
8 A The government information lead me to come here
9 today.
10 Q Do you remember who you spoke to from the postal
11 inspectors?
12 A Originally Al Pagano.
13 Q And on how many occasions did you speak with Pagano?
14 A Maybe twice. It was years ago.
15 Q And that was by phone on both occasions?
16 A Yes.
17 Q And did you s
peak to a guy named Biegelman at all?
18 A I don't recall.
19 Q Okay.
20 And then at a later point in time, was it after
21 you spoke to Pagano that you had an opportunity to speak
22 to Mr. White and Ms. Scott?
23 A Yes. 24 Q Now, let me ask you this: You had been asked some 25 questions and gave some answers about Marqui Who's Who; is
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2848 Heinbaugh-cross/Geduldig
1 that right?
2 A I don't recall. Is it in here?
3 Q I believe you said you heard of Who's Who
4 publications before you sent in your application for
5 membership in this particular Who's Who; is that right?
6 A Yes, the Who's Whos, yes.
7 Q And you said you believed at that point in time that
8 all the Who's Whos you heard about were published by one
9 company or one organization; is that right?
10
A Yes.
11 Q And it was your belief that those companies or that
12 organization was reputable and professional; is that
13 right?
14 A Yes.
15 Q And it was your belief that people listed in those
16 Who's Whos deserved to be in those directories; is that
17 right?
18 A They were nominated to be in those directories, yes.
19 Q And you had conversations with Pagano and perhaps
20 Biegelman, and with Mr. White, and with Ms. Scott,
21 regarding the fact that you were told that your
22 participation in this Who's Who was from a mailing list;
23 is that right? 24 A I had conversations with them regarding the fact that 25 some of the people in the book were not nominated, may not
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2849 Heinbaugh-cross/Geduldig
1 have been nominated.
2 Q And the organization got the name from a
mailing
3 list?
4 A Yes.
5 Q And the government told you that the names, some of
6 the names, and maybe most of the names came from a mailing
7 list; is that right?
8 A I think it was always the form have a question.
9 Like, would I -- did I know that they were from mailing
10 lists, if they were from mailing lists would I be angry if
11 I knew it was from a mailing list? It was always those
12 terms.
13 Q And the clear implication in the question to you was
14 that your name was gotten from a mailing list; isn't that
15 right?
16 A That's the way I feel today.
17 Q Would it be surprising to you to learn that Marqui
18 Who's Who, or the Who's Who who puts out all those
19 directories that you were aware of before you joined this
20 one, also used the mailing list -- also used mailing
21 lists?
22 A Repeat the question? I am sorry,
would it --
23 Q Would it be surprising to you to learn that the Who's 24 Who directories that you were aware of before you joined 25 this one, the one that you believed was professional and
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2850 Heinbaugh-cross/Geduldig
1 competent and did an excellent job and put deserving
2 people in their directories, also relied on mailing lists?
3 A Yes, that would surprise me.
4 Q Did the government tell you that those organizations,
5 what I characterize as the Marqui Who's Who, but the Who's
6 Who directories that you were aware of prior to joining
7 this one, did the government ever tell you that that
8 organization also used mailing lists?
9 A It was not a part of any conversation that I recall.
10 MR. GEDULDIG: I have no other questions, thank
11 you.
12 THE COURT: Members of the jury, we wil
l take a
13 ten-minute recess.
14 Please do not discuss the case, and keep an open
15 mind.
16 (Whereupon, at this time the jury left the
17 courtroom.)
18
19 (Whereupon, a recess is taken.)
20
21
22
23 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2851 Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 THE CLERK: Jury entering.
2 (Whereupon, the jury at this time entered the
3 courtroom.)
4 THE COURT: Please be seated, members of the
5 jury.
6 Any redirect examination?
7 MS. SCOTT: Yes, your Honor.
8
9 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
10 BY MS. SCOTT:
11 Q Mr. Heinbaugh, do you remember Mr. Trabulus asking
12 you whether you were told that the Who's Who Worldwide and
13 the Sterling Who's Who companies that you were dealing
14 with were connected at all w
ith other Who's Whos that you
15 already knew about?
16 A Yes, I remember him asking me.
17 Q Did anybody from Who's Who Worldwide or Sterling
18 Who's Who ever tell you that they were not connected with
19 those other Who's Who?
20 MR. DUNN: Objection to a negative, your Honor.
21 THE COURT: Overruled.
22 A No one ever told me that they were not connected.
23 Q Now, do you remember Mr. Jenks asking you whether you 24 used the logo that you received on your resume? 25 A Yes, I recall him asking me that.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2852 Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 Q Do you remember testifying that you did?
2 A I remember testifying that I did not use the logo. I
3 used the typewritten format, Who's Who, on my resume. I
4 just typed it.
5 Q I apologize.
6 Did anybody ever contact you as a result of y
ou
7 placing Who's Who on your resume?
8 MR. TRABULUS: Objection, your Honor. Form.
9 THE COURT: Can I hear that, Mr. Reporter?
10 (Whereupon, the court reporter reads the
11 requested material.)
12 THE COURT: Overruled.
13 Q You were asked a number of questions as to whether
14 you were aware of how your name was obtained by Who's Who
15 Worldwide and Sterling Who's Who; is that right?
16 A Yes.
17 Q And you stated -- do you remember testifying that you
18 were not certain whether you were actually nominated for
19 membership in either of the two companies?
20 A I am sorry?
21 Q I will withdraw the question.
22 Do you remember being asked questions about
23 whether you were aware that you were nominated for 24 selection into those two companies? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2853
Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 Q Now, if in fact your name had come from a mailing
2 list, as opposed to being nominated by a member of the two
3 companies, would that have affected your decision to
4 purchase either of these two companies?
5 MR. GEDULDIG: Objection, your Honor,.
6 MR. DUNN: Objection.
7 THE COURT: Overruled.
8 A Definitely.
9 Q Is that?
10 A We have sources of names of bank presidents, to
11 anyone you can name that are in directories, and many of
12 them pay to be in there. This was special to me because I
13 was nominated, or I thought I was nominated from someone
14 in my profession as being out standing in the profession.
15 If I wanted a compilation of lists of bank
16 presidents, I would go to the library and get a book on
17 bank presidents. They have biographies on them. And
18 thinking that I had been nominate, and fo
r example, a bank
19 president had been nominate, differentiates us from all
20 the other people who are not nominated. And the bank
21 presidents who are appointed by their fathers, because
22 their fathers own the bank.
23 Q Would a book of names of people who had come from 24 mailing lists have had any value to you? 25 MR. GEDULDIG: Objection.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2854 Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 THE COURT: Overruled.
2 A None.
3 Q Why is that?
4 A That's available. It is the phone book. It's free.
5 Q Do you remember Mr. Jenks asking you about the
6 impression you had when you saw the size of the book?
7 A Yes.
8 Q And do you remember testifying that you were
9 negatively impressed?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Can you tell us why that is?
12 A I just thought that the book would be s
maller. I
13 just had an impression that it would have been smaller.
14 Q Why did you think that?
15 A Well, you take the number of people that might be in
16 a given profession, and you narrow it down to the best.
17 And I don't know, I just thought it would be a little bit
18 smaller than that.
19 Q Now, Mr. Heinbaugh, do you remember being asked
20 questions about the government's investigation in this
21 case?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Did those questions about things that the government 24 did, did those have any effect on your evaluation of 25 whether or not you would have purchased these
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2855 Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 memberships?
2 MR. TRABULUS: Objection, your Honor. Backwards
3 in time?
4 THE COURT: Well, that's a difficult -- I think
5 the question is somewhat
confusing, because he did find
6 out certain things that he testified did affect him. So I
7 am not sure that that is a fair question to be put that
8 way.
9 MS. SCOTT: May I have a moment, your Honor?
10 THE COURT: Yes.
11 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
12 proceedings.)
13 MS. SCOTT: Thank you. I have no further
14 questions.
15 THE COURT: Anything else?
16 MR. TRABULUS: Yes, your Honor.
17
18 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
19 BY MR. TRABULUS:
20 Q Mr. Heinbaugh, Mr. Jenks there asked you about the
21 plaque. In total how many plaques did you receive?
22 A Two.
23 Q You said you put one in your den? 24 A Library. 25 Q Library, I am sorry.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2856 Heinbaugh-recross/Trabulus
1 What did you do with the other one?
2 A I don't recall. It is probably in a box in the
3 basement.
4 Q The one that was in your library, is it still there?
5 A No.
6 Q Did you take it down after you got your letter -- the
7 questionnaire from the post office, the postal inspector?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Before you took it down, had any guests, or relatives
10 or friends ever come by and remark on it?
11 A No.
12 Q Did you ever point it out to anybody?
13 A No.
14 Q Are you the only one who uses your den besides your
15 immediate family?
16 A Yes. Library.
17 Q Now, I think you mentioned before that you weren't
18 looking to network within the news business at the time
19 that you first -- that you first became a member of Who's
20 Who; is that correct?
21 A Yes, true.
22 Q Were you looking to network in any other type of
23 business? 24 A Perhaps. 25 Q You we
re considering that; is that correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2857 Heinbaugh-recross/Trabulus
1 A Yes.
2 Q What type of business, sir?
3 A In 1993, probably none in particular, or any in
4 general. Just as a general thing.
5 Q This was just something that was in the back of your
6 mind; is that correct?
7 A Yes.
8 Q The possibility of networking in another area?
9 A Yes.
10 Q And you never pursued it; is that correct? Using --
11 A Using that book?
12 Q That's correct. Utilizing your membership in Who's
13 Who, is it correct you never considered networking in any
14 other area?
15 A Yes, that's true.
16 Q And it was your decision not to attempt to utilize
17 the networking with respect to Who's Who; is that correct?
18 A Yes.
19 MR. TRABULUS: And that decision was made before
20 you heard anything from the postal inspectors; is that
21 correct?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Now, again, I think you indicated that you were aware 24 of the CD-ROM and decided not to purchase it; is that 25 correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2858 Heinbaugh-recross/Trabulus
1 A Yes.
2 Q You made a decision whatever type of networking you
3 would do, you would not use the CD-ROM, but use something
4 else; is that correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Now, when you first got the directory, you said you
7 went through it looking for names of people you knew; is
8 that correct?
9 A Yes.
10 Q And in the course of going through it, did you take
11 note of the types of people in the directory, the types of
12 entries?
13 A Some note.
14 Q Did you notice that there were people who were listed
15 as being the president of corporations?
16 A Some note.
17 Q And some of the corporations might be ones you didn't
18 recognize, and you would know if they were small or big or
19 whatever; is that true?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And others were larger corporations, that you were
22 familiar with; is that right?
23 A Yes. 24 Q And you saw people who had other titles within larger 25 corporations, or larger businesses that you were familiar
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2859 Heinbaugh-recross/Trabulus
2 officer, regional manager, things like that; is that
3 correct?
4 A Yes.
5 Q You mentioned in response to Ms. Scott, the
6 possibility of a bank president who became a bank
7 president because her father or his father made them a
8 bank pres
ident in what amounted to a family business; do
9 you recall that?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And the types of these larger corporations, or larger
12 businesses that were familiar to you, they were not known
13 to you as being that kind of family business; is that
14 right?
15 A They were not known to be that type of business.
16 Q The fact that someone had reached a certain level
17 within a business of type, whether or not it be a
18 president or chief financial officer, but someone who was
19 in high management, would that not signify to you that
20 someone had made a determination that that person was in a
21 certain sense outstanding within their profession?
22 A No.
23 Q It would not? 24 A It would not. 25 Q When I say someone, I don't necessarily mean another
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2860 Heinbaugh-recr
oss/Trabulus
1 member of Who's Who, but would it not signify to you that
2 perhaps the person, the board of directors of the
3 corporation, or somebody else in management had made a
4 determination that they were outstanding in terms of what
5 they did? Is your answer still no, that it would not?
6 A No, it would not.
7 Q Even though the person who might have made that
8 choice, or the people who might have had business reasons
9 for selecting a person to be a chief financial officer or
10 president, are you still saying it wouldn't suggest to you
11 that at least in the majority of instances a kind of
12 approval, vote of approval of that person?
13 A Let me clarify what you are asking about.
14 You are asking me about the book, if people in
15 the book were all nominated by professionals in their
16 field?
17 Q No. Let me go back.
18 I am not
asking about the fact that you saw those
19 people in the book suggested to you in and of itself that
20 they were nominated by other members. I am asking if it
21 signified to you that the fact that people had other
22 entries, showing they were chief financial officers or
23 managers -- 24 THE COURT: Slow down, Mr. Trabulus. 25 MR. TRABULUS: Thank you.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2861 Heinbaugh-recross/Trabulus
1 Q Presidents, titles like that, people that you felt
2 were significant, would that satisfy you that those people
3 in their profession had reached a certain level of
4 achievement?
5 THE COURT: What he is asking you is if they were
6 a chief financial officer of the corporation, would that
7 alone indicate that they had achieved something?
8 THE WITNESS: No.
9 Q If somebody was a president of a
major corporation,
10 would it indicate to you that they achieved a certain
11 amount of success in their field?
12 A Yes.
13 Q And would it not signify to you, if it was not a
14 family business, that somebody had been chosen for such a
15 position, would that not signify to you that others in
16 their field had a high regard for them?
17 A No.
18 Q Not necessarily?
19 A No.
20 Q Is it your belief that most people who become
21 presidents or chief financial officers, or comparable
22 positions for large corporations, are generally not people
23 who are highly regarded by the people who select them? 24 Yes or no, sir. 25 A Most, no -- yes, most, yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2862 Heinbaugh-recross/Trabulus
1 Q Okay.
2 So, of course there could be someone -- there
3 could be s
omeone who through some other means got the
4 position, or as to whom people made a mistake, but in
5 general most of them would have been people well regarded
6 by their peers; is that correct?
7 A Most of the people who rise to those positions would
8 be well regarded by their peers, yes.
9 Q And, of course -- withdrawn.
10 The peers who you -- excuse me.
11 Now, have you ever in the course of your work had
12 occasion to pass upon a recommendation that somebody else
13 had made concerning somebody who you were considering
14 promoting or employing?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Was there ever an instance where someone was
17 recommending somebody, and it turned out the
18 recommendation was wrong, that the person wasn't as suited
19 or wasn't as they had been recommended to be, in your
20 experience?
21 A Yes.
22 Q Now, when you went through this book at a point in
23 time when you say you had no reason to know whether or 24 not -- withdrawn. 25 When you went through this book at a time, and
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2863 Heinbaugh-recross/Trabulus
1 when I say this book, I mean Defendant's Exhibit Q in
2 evidence, at a time from what you say that you thought
3 everybody in there had been nominated, did it appear to
4 have value to you at that point in time?
5 A Yes.
6 Q And the value largely related to the entries of the
7 people who are in here; is that correct?
8 A Yes.
9 Q And that would be the entry that such and such a
10 person was, for example, a CEO and publisher, opening to a
11 page in random, or something along those lines? Is that
12 correct? That's what the entry would be; is that correct?
13 A Yes, up by the name.
14 Q In fact,
before you even came a member and received
15 the Registry, you had a good idea what the entry would
16 look like because you yourself supplied information to
17 Who's Who for preparing an entry to you; is that correct?
18 A Yes.
19 Q When you got it, there were no surprises, except you
20 said it was bigger than you thought it would be; is that
21 correct?
22 A Yes. There were not any surprises.
23 Q Have you seen any other Who's Whos, in the course of 24 going to school or doing research, or whatever? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2864 Heinbaugh-recross/Trabulus
1 Q Do you recall if any were actually thicker than this?
2 A Yes.
3 Q Or maybe the entries were longer?
4 A When they grouped several years together, I think
5 they were larger.
6 Q Okay.
7 With regard to any person who
is in here, who is
8 a CEO or executive, or whatever, what is written is
9 exactly the same, whether or not they were nominated by
10 another member or became a CEO or executive because other
11 people in their business thought well enough of them to
12 have them -- to appoint them to that position; is that
13 correct, sir?
14 A It makes sense, yes.
15 MR. TRABULUS: I have no further questions.
16 MR. DUNN: Your Honor, I have questions.
17
18 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
19 BY MR. DUNN:
20 Q Good morning, sir. My name is Thomas Dunn.
21 You stated just a few minutes ago that something
22 to the effect that no one told you that this was not
23 connected with the Who's Who that you were thinking about; 24 is that correct? 25 A That's correct.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2865 Heinbaugh-recross/Dunn
1 Q Okay.
2 Do you have an Exhibit 52-H up there in front of
3 you?
4 MR. DUNN: If I can approach?
5 (Counsel approaches the witness stand.)
6 Q All right.
7 52-H is a letter from Sterling Who's Who; is that
8 correct?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Sir, the very bottom of that page, the last, below
11 the address, would you be kind enough to read that.
12 A Sterling Who's Who is not affiliated with any Who's
13 Who organization other than our own.
14 MR. DUNN: I have no further questions, your
15 Honor.
16 THE COURT: Anything else?
17
18 FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION
19 BY MS. SCOTT:
20 Q Mr. Heinbaugh, the line that Mr. Dunn just had you
21 read --
22 A Yes.
23 Q -- is that inconsistent at all with the impression 24 you had that this was the same organization that you heard 25 of?
HARR
Y RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2866 Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 MR. TRABULUS: Objection.
2 THE COURT: Sustained.
3 Q What was your belief about these other organizations'
4 connection with Who's Who and Sterling Who's Who?
5 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
6 THE COURT: Sustained.
7 MS. SCOTT: Is that to form or substance, your
8 Honor.
9 THE COURT: Form, substance and otherwise. An
10 improper further redirect, because you already brought out
11 what this thoughts were. He said he thought it was part
12 of the whole Who's Who picture; is that right?
13 THE WITNESS: Yes. Who knew it was different
14 from Phoenix, etcetera.
15 THE COURT: That's the impression. He brought it
16 out, the jury heard it.
17 Q Do you remember if Mr. Trabulus asked you whether you
18 put the plaque up when you received it?
19 A Y
es, I remember.
20 Q Do you remember you testified that you took it down
21 after --
22 A Yes, I did.
23 Sorry. 24 Q You remember you took it down you said after talking 25 to the postal inspectors?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2867 Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 A Yes.
2 Q If you knew your name came from a mailing list at the
3 outset, would you have put it out on the outset, at the
4 outset?
5 MR. DUNN: Objection.
6 MR. GEDULDIG: Objection.
7 THE COURT: Overruled.
8 A At the outset I would never have ordered the
9 subscription, it wouldn't have been a question.
10 Q Do you remember Mr. Trabulus asking you certain
11 questions about people whose names appeared in the book?
12 A Yes.
13 Q Would you have been interested in using that book, if
14 the names of the people in it h
ad been taken from mailing
15 lists?
16 A No.
17 The way I would use the names in the book is if I
18 was thinking about --
19 MR. LEE: Objection, your Honor.
20 THE COURT: Sustained.
21 The answer is no; is that correct?
22 THE WITNESS: Yes, your Honor.
23 Q Do you remember Mr. Trabulus asking you whether a 24 person's title signified to you that that person was 25 necessarily outstanding in their field?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2868 Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 A Yes. I recall that question.
2 Q You testified that it did not; is that correct?
3 A Yes, I did.
4 Q Can you explain what you meant by that?
5 MR. TRABULUS: Objection, your Honor.
6 THE COURT: Why are you objecting? You asked
7 these questions, which were not really recross, but there
8 was no objection. Or else I would have sustained all of
9 the answers. Now that you opened the door to questions
10 you shouldn't have asked in the first place -- I don't
11 mean there was anything improper, but it had nothing to do
12 with the further cross-examination, but were new ideas.
13 You brought out new things.
14 MR. TRABULUS: I thought they were raised by some
15 of co-counsel, your Honor.
16 THE COURT: But I didn't. However, since there
17 was no objection, I let you go on. And it was fairly
18 interesting anyway, Mr. Trabulus.
19 MR. TRABULUS: Thank you, your Honor.
20 THE COURT: But now that you brought it out,
21 which never should have been brought out, not that it is
22 improper, but because of our archaic method of trying
23 cases, which you are very familiar with. If not, 24 Mr. Geduldig will fill you in on it, now you can pursue 25 it.
HARRY RAPAPORT
, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2869 Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 MR. GEDULDIG: You give me too much credit,
2 Judge.
3 THE COURT: Okay.
4 Now let's hear about it.
5 THE WITNESS: Having a title doesn't convey any
6 special meaning, other than like a lawyer, there are lots
7 of lawyers. But if all the lawyers in New York, of all of
8 them, you were the best, that would mean something. But
9 just a title, it could be a consulting company, and I make
10 myself president. Is that impressive? No. I am still
11 the same guy. I mean, that's why the title doesn't
12 matter.
13 THE COURT: How do you figure who is the best
14 lawyer? Do you have any idea about that?
15 THE WITNESS: Is there one?
16 THE COURT: I asked for that one.
17 I have to break this up every once in a while,
18 you know.
19 Q Do you remember Mr. Trabulus a
sking you how the book
20 had value to you?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And do you remember him asking you about whether it
23 surprised you of its contents? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And do you remember testifying that there were no
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2870 Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 surprises when you first saw that book?
2 A Yes.
3 Q Can you explain how the book had value to you at that
4 time?
5 A If I were looking to get into, say, another business,
6 and I went to the library, and I was interested in XYZ
7 company, and in the library I found out that Jane Smith
8 was president of XYZ company, then I would go back to the
9 directory and look up Jane Smith, to see if she was in
10 there. If she was in there, hey, I am in the book, too.
11 I might get a phone call answered by her rather than her
12 re
ceptionist.
13 That was the thought in my mind as far as
14 networking. I was never able to hook it up that way. It
15 never -- I never matched names from companies I was
16 looking at to anyone in the book.
17 Q So, if you had known at the time that Jane Smith's
18 name was taken from a mailing list, would you have been
19 interested in contacting her?
20 A No. I have books like that where people name
21 themselves authorities on the law. You can put your name
22 in a book and send it to me, as an authority on criminal
23 law. I have that. Who is to say you are an authority? 24 You do. Good for you. 25 I am in TV news. I can't just take everyone's
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2871 Heinbaugh-redirect/Scott
1 words that they are an authority.
2 MS. SCOTT: Thank you, Mr. Heinbaugh. I have no
3 further questio
ns.
4 THE COURT: On TV news, don't they have
5 commentators on television now that follow a case, and
6 after every day of a trial these commentators tell us what
7 we heard, or what we didn't hear, their view?
8 THE WITNESS: Exactly, your Honor.
9 THE COURT: That's the newest thing, yes.
10 THE WITNESS: Yes, to tell you what you think you
11 heard, but to make sure you heard it and understood it,
12 right.
13 THE COURT: I don't agree with it.
14 THE WITNESS: I don't either.
15 THE COURT: Anything else?
16 MR. TRABULUS: No, your Honor.
17 THE COURT: All right. You may step down.
18 (Whereupon, at this time the witness left the
19 witness stand.)
20 THE COURT: Call your next witness.
21 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, the government calls
22 Ellery Pierre, E L L E R Y, P I E R R E.
23 THE COURT: Raise your right hand. 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2872
1 E L L E R Y P I E R R E ,
2 called as a witness, having been first
3 duly sworn, was examined and testified
4 as follows:
5
6 THE COURT: Please be seated.
7 State your full name and spell your name.
8 THE WITNESS: My name is Ellery Pierre, it is
9 spelled E L L E R Y. My last name is P I E R R E.
10 THE COURT: You may proceed.
11 MR. WHITE: Thank you, your Honor.
12
13 DIRECT EXAMINATION
14 BY MR. WHITE:
15 Q Mr. Pierre, can you tell us how old you are?
16 A 24 years.
17 Q And where do you live?
18 A Terre Haute, Indiana.
19 Q Can you tell us, are you married?
20 A No. I am engaged to soon be married.
21 Q Tell us what you do for a living?
22 A I work for Columbia House as a customer service rep.
23 THE COURT
: Columbia House? 24 THE WITNESS: Yes. 25 THE COURT: What sport of business is Columbia
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2873 Pierre-direct/White
1 House?
2 A Entertainment, mail order business.
3 THE COURT: In other words, you buy the CD from
4 Columbia House?
5 THE WITNESS: Yes.
6 THE COURT: Yes, from World War II songs, things
7 like that?
8 THE WITNESS: All sorts of CDs.
9 THE COURT: Glen Miller songs? Okay.
10 Q Now, were you subpoenaed to testify at this trial as
11 a witness?
12 A Yes.
13 Q And has the government paid your travel expenses from
14 Indiana?
15 A As I understand, yes.
16 Q Have you ever heard of a company called Sterling
17 Who's Who?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Tell us how you are familiar with Sterling Who's Who?
20 A I am a former employee.
21 Q Tell us when you worked there.
22 A I worked there the summer of '94.
23 Q And for approximately how long? 24 A Approximately three months. 25 Q At the time you worked at Sterling, were you a
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2874 Pierre-direct/White
1 student?
2 A Yes.
3 Q Did you eventually leave your employment at Sterling?
4 A Yes.
5 Q Can you tell us what the circumstances were of
6 leaving Sterling, what they were?
7 A I had decided to leave Sterling by the end of my, or
8 close to the end of my summer break. And I went on a trip
9 overseas.
10 Q Now, can you tell us where Sterling's offices were?
11 A I worked on Lexington and 59th Street, right near
12 Bloomingdales.
13 Q Manhattan?
14 A Yes.
15 Q What was your job at Sterling?
16 A My position listing was coor
dinator.
17 Q What did your position listing as a coordinator
18 involve?
19 A It involved the selling of the membership.
20 Q When you sold the membership, did you follow any
21 script?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Now, can you tell us how much you earned at Sterling? 24 A It was salary versus commission. And it varied 25 between 400 and 800 when the performance was high.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2875 Pierre-direct/White
1 Q As part of your job did you speak on the telephone
2 with potential customers?
3 A Yes.
4 Q When you did that, did you do -- use your real name?
5 THE COURT: Is there an objection?
6 MR. GEDULDIG: Not an objection, but I would like
7 a short sidebar.
8 THE COURT: All right. Come up.
9
10 (Whereupon, at this time the following took place
11 at the sidebar.)
12 MR. GEDULDIG: Judge, I don't know where
13 Mr. White is going particularly, but apparently he is
14 going to get into the operations of Sterling. And I
15 understand that Sterling is one of the co-defendants in
16 the case. But most of the defendants in this case, the
17 salespeople and the middle management people were all
18 Who's Who people. And it would seem to me, that there is
19 a bit of overlap with our people who are Who's Who people.
20 THE COURT: There are no individual defendants
21 who are Sterling salespeople?
22 MR. TRABULUS: Mr. Sterling was the president of
23 Sterling. 24 THE COURT: Okay. 25 MR. GEDULDIG: My point is that there should be
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2876 Pierre-direct/White
1 some sort of a limiting instruction, if this witness is
2 going to be testifying to Sterling, what
the government
3 considers to be Sterling violations of law, and the way
4 they operated soliciting customers and the rest.
5 MR. WHITE: My response would be the same as it
6 was to the other objection, your Honor, which at this
7 point it is against Sterling and Mr. Gordon. If your
8 Honor finds it is a conspiracy later, it would be as to
9 all the defendants.
10 MR. TRABULUS: I don't think at this point it
11 should be stated that it is attributable against
12 Mr. Gordon. I don't believe there is any basis to
13 attributing it against him.
14 THE COURT: I am going to tell the jury that this
15 is not against salespersons of Who's Who.
16 MR. GEDULDIG: As well as middle management.
17 THE COURT: I mean the employees of Who's Who.
18 MR. TRABULUS: That by implication would make it
19 admissible against Mr. Gordon. And the fact that he was
20 the pre
sident of Sterling, isn't sufficient to make it
21 admissible against him at this point, absent a
22 demonstration of conspiracy, or absent a demonstration of
23 a direct relationship between this witness and Mr. Gordon, 24 such as to make this witness the agent of Mr. Gordon. 25 THE COURT: Is he going to testify to inculpate
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2877 Pierre-direct/White
1 Mr. Gordon in this testimony?
2 MR. WHITE: He is going to say simply that
3 Mr. Gordon came to Sterling once or twice a week, and at
4 times addressed the salespeople.
5 THE COURT: But didn't address them in any --
6 MR. WHITE: He is not going to say that
7 Mr. Gordon told me to lie.
8 THE COURT: Then I will say it is against
9 Sterling at this point.
10 MR. WHITE: Okay.
11 MR. WALLENSTEIN: Make it clear, Judge, that
12 Mr. Reffsin is not involved in this part of the conspiracy
13 at all.
14 THE COURT: I will not get into that and just say
15 it is against Sterling.
16
17 (Whereupon, at this time the following takes
18 place in open court.)
19 THE COURT: Members of the jury, this testimony
20 by this witness is being introduced against the defendant
21 Sterling Who's Who, Inc. only.
22 You may proceed.
23 Q Now, Mr. Pierre, when you were on the telephone with 24 potential customers as part of your job at Sterling Who's 25 Who, did you use your real name?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2878 Pierre-direct/White
1 A No.
2 Q What name did you use?
3 A Eric Peters.
4 Q Did you receive any instructions regarding what name
5 to use?
6 A I received the instruction --
7 MR. SCHOER: Objection, your H
onor, until he
8 identifies who he received instructions from as to what
9 his instructions were.
10 THE COURT: First we have to find out if he
11 received instructions.
12 MR. SCHOER: I understand. But he started to
13 answer as to what the instructions were.
14 THE COURT: The question is: Did you receive
15 instructions as to whether you should use your real name?
16 THE WITNESS: Yes.
17 Q From whom?
18 A From Rob Lamb, L A M B, and Michael Powers.
19 THE COURT: Who were they?
20 THE WITNESS: My immediate supervisors.
21 THE COURT: Did they have titles?
22 THE WITNESS: I don't recall the title.
23 Q Now, what instruction did you receive from Mr. Lamb 24 and Mr. Powers as to whether to use your real name on the 25 telephone?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2879 Pierre-direct/White
1
MR. SCHOER: Objection.
2 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
3 THE COURT: Overruled.
4 THE WITNESS: The instructions were to use a
5 pseudo name.
6 THE COURT: Use a pseudo name?
7 THE WITNESS: Pseudo name, pardon me.
8 And use my initials to create my new name.
9 Q And what was the pseudonym that you used?
10 A Eric Peters.
11 Q Now, was there a quota on the number of sales that
12 you were required to make at Sterling?
13 A Yes.
14 Q What was the quota?
15 A I don't recall the exact figures, but it was per
16 week.
17 Q And can you tell us how this would work, how the
18 quota was enforced?
19 A We were paid a base salary versions commission. And
20 as we progressed during the week, every week our base
21 salary would be reduced somewhat to increase the
22 percentage of commission.
23 Q And with respect to the numbe
r of sales that you 24 made, how was that quota enforced? 25 A Pardon me?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2880 Pierre-direct/White
1 Q If you didn't make the requisite number of sales per
2 week, what would happen?
3 A When you did not meet quota a week, after you worked
4 there about two weeks, when you didn't start meeting
5 quota, you would be on probation for the following week.
6 And then, if you still didn't succeed in meeting that
7 quota, you would have to meet with your supervisors, and
8 they would determine if you should continue to be
9 employed.
10 Q Now, have you ever heard the term "lead card"?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Can you tell us what a lead card is?
13 A A lead card was a card that contained a name,
14 address, phone number, title, just pertinent information
15 about an individual.
16 Q And did you have information to receive lead cards in
17 your job at Sterling?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And from whom would you receive them?
20 A From Rob Lamb.
21 Q Now, once you received -- let me back up.
22 Did you receive any instructions from Mr. Lamb or
23 Mr. Powers as to what you would do with the card once you 24 received it? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2881 Pierre-direct/White
1 Q What instruction did you receive?
2 MR. LEE: Objection.
3 MR. JENKS: Objection.
4 THE COURT: Overruled.
5 A My instructions were to call the phone number on the
6 lead card, and get in touch, or attempt to get in touch
7 with the subject individual to deliver the sales pitch.
8 Q Were you ever given any instructions regarding how
9 Sterling had obtained the names of the people on these
10 cards?
11 MR. NELSON: Objection.
12 THE COURT: Overruled.
13 Q You can answer it.
14 A We were told that --
15 THE COURT: When you say we were told --
16 THE WITNESS: Employees.
17 THE COURT: Who told you?
18 THE WITNESS: The supervisors.
19 THE COURT: What supervisors?
20 THE WITNESS: Michael Powers and Rob Lamb.
21 THE COURT: Go ahead.
22 THE WITNESS: As employees we were informed that
23 they were mailed to those individuals to fill out. 24 Q Did you ever learn where Sterling had actually 25 obtained the names of the persons on those cards?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2882 Pierre-direct/White
1 A No.
2 Q Did you ever draw any conclusions as to where the
3 names on those cards had come from?
4 MR. JENKS: Objection.
5 MR. TRABULUS: Objection.
6 THE COURT: S
ustained.
7 Q Can you describe for us the kind of people whose
8 names were listed on those cards?
9 MR. JENKS: Objection.
10 THE COURT: Overruled.
11 A They were of different backgrounds. Some were
12 management positions. Some were blue collar employees.
13 Some were farmers. Some were priests. Even a child. So,
14 there was a wide gamut.
15 Q Now, did you have occasion to observe the number or
16 volume of cards received by Sterling?
17 A Yes.
18 Q Okay.
19 Tell us what you observed.
20 A Right in front of the desk of the supervisors was a
21 big box, somewhat of a bin in which they would bring in
22 cards wrapped up in rubberbands.
23 Q Can you describe for us the volume of the cards? 24 A The box was probably approximately three -- three 25 feet wide square, and about four feet high. Somewhat of a
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR,
CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2883 Pierre-direct/White
1 volume. When we would run out they would just replenish
2 it.
3 Q Now, to your knowledge, did anyone at Sterling review
4 or evaluate the qualifications of potential customers on
5 these cards before they were given to you?
6 A Not to my knowledge.
7 Q And tell us how you know that?
8 A Because we get cards, as I mention, of people who
9 weren't in management positions, or did not have a status
10 title. A nurse, pharmacist, veterinarian, etcetera. So
11 it didn't fulfill what the criteria that was promoted to
12 be.
13 Q Now, you said before that in your calls to customers
14 you followed a script?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Now, have you heard the term "pitch sheet" before?
17 A Yes.
18 Q Tell us what a "pitch sheet" was?
19 A A pitch sheet had the sales pitch for the membership
20 enrollment.
21 Q Have you ever heard the term objection sheet?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Tell us what an objection sheet is? 24 A It could be one page or two-pages, depending on the 25 format. And it included questions that the potential
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2884 Pierre-direct/White
1 members would regularly ask, and the answers we were
2 supposed to give them.
3 Q Now, where did you get these pitch sheets and
4 objection sheets from?
5 A They were submitted by my supervisors.
6 Q Let me show you Government's Exhibit 338 and 390, for
7 Identification.
8 (Handed to the witness.)
9 Q First of all, can you tell us if you recognize those
10 documents?
11 A Yes, I do.
12 Q What are they?
13 A They are both objection sheets.
14 Q And if you can look that 390, the pages th
at are
15 attached to 390, the last two pages of that exhibit, what
16 are they?
17 MR. TRABULUS: Excuse me, your Honor, if I may
18 just interject at this point?
19 I was unable to find any copy of those exhibits
20 in my papers.
21 Do you have them? What volume were they?
22 MR. SCHOER: They are loose.
23 THE COURT: They are not in the books? 24 MR. TRABULUS: Apparently some counsel has them 25 loose.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2885 Pierre-direct/White
1 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I thought they were in
2 the book.
3 MR. TRABULUS: I got 388, and then I don't have
4 391; it didn't get to 391.
5 I am checking for 338. I have 338, but I don't
6 have 390.
7 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
8 proceedings.)
9 THE COURT: Do you have 390, Mr. Trabulus?
1
0 MR. SCHOER: I have it here.
11 MR. TRABULUS: I am looking on.
12 MR. WHITE: We have extra copies.
13 THE COURT: Would you give Mr. Trabulus a copy of
14 390.
15 MR. WHITE: Yes.
16 MR. JENKS: 390 is three pages?
17 MR. WHITE: Yes.
18 MR. TRABULUS: Is 338 only one page?
19 MR. WHITE: Yes.
20 MR. JENKS: I have it.
21 Q Now, the top, 338, and the top page of 390, what are
22 those?
23 A Those are objection sheets. 24 Q And the bottom two-pages of 390, what are they? 25 A They are sales pitch sheets.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2886 Pierre-direct/White
1 Q Now, were all of these documents in use at the time
2 you worked at Sterling Who's Who?
3 A Yes.
4 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, the government offers 338
5 and 390.
6 MR. TRABULUS: A voir dire, your Honor?
7 M
R. JENKS: I would like a voir dire, your
8 Honor.
9 MR. TRABULUS: You can go first.
10 MR. JENKS: You are sure? I don't want to step
11 on your toes.
12
13 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION
14 BY MR. JENKS:
15 Q Mr. Pierre, a few questions with respect to these
16 documents.
17 When was the last time you saw these?
18 A The last time I saw them?
19 Q Did you ever see these exhibits before you,
20 Exhibits 338 and 390?
21 A Yes.
22 Q Specifically these documents.
23 A I believe so. If they are not a copy of them. 24 Q Were there other sets of pitch sheets or objection 25 sheets at Sterling Who's Who?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2887 Pierre-direct/White
1 A Yes. They were reviewed or reupdated.
2 Q Did you ever personally work from these sheets or use
3 sheets -- these sheets
in your line of work, the ones in
4 front of you?
5 A In Sterling Who's Who, yes.
6 Q Those exact documents?
7 THE COURT: When you say those exact documents,
8 you mean this piece of paper or something similar to
9 this?
10 MR. JENKS: That's piece of paper.
11 THE COURT: Sustained.
12 Q Do you know who created that document in front of
13 you, 338?
14 A No.
15 Q Do you know who created 390?
16 A No.
17 Q Do you know whether anyone inside Sterling Who's Who
18 made up that document?
19 A I am not aware.
20 Q Do you know if that's a record that was kept in the
21 ordinary course of Sterling Who's Who business?
22 A I am not aware of how it is handled within the
23 company. The only thing I am aware of, of the use of this 24 is in our sales presentation. 25 MR. JENKS: I have no further questions, your
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2888 Pierre-direct/White
1 Honor.
2
3 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION
4 BY MR. TRABULUS:
5 Q Good afternoon, Mr. Pierre.
6 I would like to direct your attention
7 specifically to 390, do you have that in front of you?
8 Look at the top page.
9 A I have seen it.
10 Q I am not asking you whether you yourself ever used
11 that particular piece of paper, but can you your -- but
12 did you yourself ever use what is written on that piece of
13 paper in responding to particular members over the phone?
14 A Yes.
15 Q You actually said the words on that to the actual
16 members on the phone, correct, on 390?
17 A Yes.
18 MR. TRABULUS: No further questions.
19 THE COURT: Any objection?
20 MR. JENKS: I object.
21 THE COURT: What grounds?
22 MR. TRABULUS: I have
no objection.
23 MR. JENKS: On the ground they are not 24 established as business records of Sterling Who's Who. 25 There are no identifying marks on these documents. And I
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2889 Pierre-direct/White
1 would object to the documents as being hearsay.
2 MR. NELSON: Judge, might I have a brief voir
3 dire?
4 THE COURT: Sure.
5
6 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION
7 BY MR. NELSON:
8 Q Mr. Pierre, I would like you to look at Exhibit 338.
9 In the upper left-hand corner of the document, is
10 the document dated?
11 A Yes, it is.
12 Q And that is the date of August 10th, 1994?
13 A Yes, it is.
14 Q Were you working at Sterling Who's Who on August
15 10th, 1994?
16 A Yes, I did.
17 Q I would like to direct your attention to the second
18 two sheets of pape
r in 390.
19 Am I correct that in the upper left-hand corner
20 of the first of those second two documents, and this is a
21 presentation sheet; is that correct?
22 A Yes.
23 Q In the upper left-hand corner, does it have the date 24 of 6/15/94? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2890 Pierre-direct/White
1 Q Were you working at Sterling Who's Who on June 15th,
2 1994?
3 A I don't recall the exact date of hire, but I did work
4 during the summer period, and I did work during the month
5 of June.
6 Q And would it have been the latter part of June?
7 A It could have been. June, July and August were most
8 of the my working experience in this company.
9 Q And the last document has a date of June 21st, 1994;
10 is that correct?
11 A Yes, it does.
12 Q Am I correct that you were give
n different
13 presentation sheets on a weekly basis?
14 A Not on a weekly basis.
15 Q Did they change over the period of time that you were
16 present at the company?
17 A Yes, they did several times.
18 Q And you were given different presentations at
19 different times; is that correct?
20 A Presentations differed very slightly.
21 Q But they did differ at different points in time; is
22 that correct?
23 A Yes. 24 Q And would the same be true of the objection sheets 25 you were provided?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2891 Pierre-direct/White
1 A Yes.
2 MR. NELSON: Objection to the admissibility of
3 these documents, your Honor.
4 THE COURT: On what grounds?
5 MR. NELSON: As to 690 (sic), I would object to
6 the first page, it does not appear specifically that the
7 witne
ss was working at the company at the time that this
8 particular document, which is dated June 15th, 1994, was
9 prepared.
10 THE COURT: Overruled.
11 Anything else?
12 MR. NELSON: Nothing further.
13 THE COURT: Anyone else object?
14 MR. JENKS: I objected previously.
15 THE COURT: I will overrule the objection, and
16 allow both the documents in evidence as Government Exhibit
17 338 and 390.
18 (Government's Exhibit 338 received in evidence.)
19 (Government's Exhibit 390 received in evidence.)
20 THE COURT: Members of the jury, I told you in
21 preliminary instructions that I sometimes would permit
22 evidence for a particular purpose. This is one of those
23 times. 24 These sheets are not introduced for the truth of 25 what they say, but just, if you believe that they were
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
2892 Pierre-direct/White
1 used, it is only for that purpose; that these sheets were
2 used by this witness in the manner he is about to testify,
3 not for the truth of what is in these documents, but were
4 they used, that's all.
5 MR. SCHOER: Judge, they are only offered against
6 Sterling Who's Who.
7 THE COURT: I said that I think twice so far. I
8 will say it again. All this evidence at this point is
9 offered only against one of the defendants in this case,
10 the defendant Sterling -- what is the full name of that?
11 MR. JENKS: Who's Who, Inc.
12 THE COURT: It is Sterling Who's Who, Inc.
13 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, may I pass out those
14 exhibits to the jury?
15 THE COURT: Surely.
16 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
17 to the jury.)
18 MR. WHITE: So we don't get confused at this time
19 I will pass out Ex
hibit 390.
20 THE COURT: Do these have holes to be able to put
21 them in?
22 MR. WHITE: They do, your Honor, and 390 is a
23 three-page document. 24 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published 25 to the jury.)
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2893 Pierre-direct/White
1
2 DIRECT EXAMINATION (cont'd)
3 BY MR. WHITE:
4 Q Mr. Pierre, if you can take a look at the pitch sheet
5 that has the date 6/6/94 in the upper right-hand corner
6 that is part of 390, do you see that?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Read aloud to us the first two paragraphs?
9 THE COURT: Slowly, please.
10 A Hello, Mr. Blank. This is blank. I'm the listing
11 coordinator of Sterling Who's Who. We received your
12 application, for which I thank you.
13 Mr. Blank, in order to be listed in the Sterling
14 executive edition, I
need to verify the information on
15 your application for accuracy purposes.
16 Q Now, the next line there says: Commence interview;
17 is that right?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Can you explain what that refers to?
20 A That refers to a small interview process. We had a
21 separate sheet or application in which we write down his
22 full name, first name and last name, correctly; address,
23 if any correction need be; phone number, home, work phone 24 number; and other information as in favorite book, 25 magazine, sport, hobby, vacation, etcetera.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2894 Pierre-direct/White
1 Q Now, did you ask these questions in order to
2 determine the member's qualifications to be in Sterling
3 Who's Who?
4 A No.
5 Q Did you receive any instructions from your
6 supervisors at Sterling regarding whe
ther you were to
7 evaluate whether a potential customer was qualified to be
8 a Who's Who member?
9 A No.
10 Q No, you received no instructions, or yes, you
11 received -- answer yes or no first. Did you receive
12 instructions regarding whether you were to evaluate a
13 member's qualifications?
14 A Yes.
15 Q What instructions -- from whom did you receive those
16 instructions?
17 A From my supervisors, Rob Lamb and Michael Powers.
18 Q What instructions did you receive?
19 A My instructions were to accept any member who was
20 willing to submit his credit card number.
21 Q Can you read to us the next line on the pitch sheet,
22 after it says, commence interview.
23 A This sounds wonderful, Mr. Blank. Our members are 24 CEOs and other management people who do business with 25 other members. We don't publish phone numbers for member
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2895 Pierre-direct/White
1 privacy. Do you have any objection to other members
2 communicating with you by mail, pertaining to business?
3 I'll make a note of it.
4 Q Let me ask you about the first sentence there, this
5 sounds wonderful, Mr. Blank.
6 Now, were you to say this sounds wonderful
7 regardless of what the customer told you in the interview?
8 A Yes.
9 Q And at the end where you ask, do you have any
10 objection to other members communicating to you by mail
11 pertaining to business, I'll make a note of it; when the
12 customer gave you an answer to that question, did you
13 actually make a note of it?
14 A No.
15 Q Now, does this pitch sheet list the member benefits?
16 A Yes.
17 Q Now, if you can look down at the numbered paragraph 4
18 on that sheet, and if you can read that allowed to us
19 slowly?
20 A As a member you can anonymously nominate up to two
21 qualified individuals annually. The only thing we ask is
22 that you select your nominations very carefully there is
23 there is no guaranty of their acceptance. 24 Q Now, in your experience as a sales employee at 25 Sterling, was it true that there was no guaranty of
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2896 Pierre-direct/White
1 acceptance?
2 MR. LEE: Objection. Leading.
3 MR. TRABULUS: Objection.
4 THE COURT: Overruled.
5 Q You can answer.
6 A No.
7 Q And why was it that it was untrue?
8 A As I formerly stated or previously stated, our goal
9 was to obtain the client's credit card number, regardless
10 of his position.
11 Q In your experience as a sales employee at Sterling,
12 if
a customer was willing to purchase a membership, would
13 one be sold to him?
14 A Yes.
15 Q Now, if you look at the pitch sheet at the line below
16 paragraph number five, and could you read that aloud for
17 us.
18 A Mr. Blank, we accept only 1,000 to 1,500 new members
19 a month out of 10 to 15 thousand candidates that apply.
20 Q Now, can you tell us in terms of a percentage what
21 acceptance rate that represents?
22 A That represents approximately ten percent.
23 Q In your experiences a sales employee at membership, 24 was anyone not accepted for unqualified membership? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2897 Pierre-direct/White
1 Q In your experience as a sales representative at
2 Sterling, were there any standards or qualifications
3 required to be a Sterling Who's Who member?
4 A No.
5 Q Now, did you ever sell a Sterling membership to
6 anyone who was not an adult?
7 A Yes, unfortunately.
8 Q Can you tell us about that incident?
9 A It was an experience of somebody who wrote down their
10 name, or scribbled their name with crayons, and their
11 information with crayons.
12 Q Let me interrupt you, they scribbled their name in
13 crayons on what?
14 A On the card.
15 When I called up it happened to be a child.
16 Q Let me interrupt you again. Who happened to be a
17 child?
18 A The potential client.
19 Q The person's whose name was on the card?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Continue the story.
22 A When I presented this, I put them on hold. I
23 presented this to my supervisor, and that was Rob Lamb. 24 And he mentioned that if his mother was willing to submit 25 a credit card for his enrollment in the membership, then
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2898 Pierre-direct/White
1 we would gladly accept it.
2 Q And what did you do next?
3 A So I interviewed him. I recalled that he was into
4 arts, drawings. He had goals of becoming an artist, and
5 just went through the questions as to his favorite book,
6 vacation, sports, and what not. And when that finalized I
7 asked him to put his mother on the phone. And she was
8 ready and willing to submit her credit card.
9 Q And did you sell them a membership?
10 A Yes.
11 THE COURT: I think this might be an appropriate
12 time to stop?
13 MR. WHITE: It is, your Honor, yes.
14 THE COURT: Members of the jury, we will recess
15 for lunch, please keep an open mind. Do not discuss the
16 case. We will recess until 1:30.
17 Have a nice lunch.
18 (Whereupon, at this time the
jury leaves the
19 courtroom.)
20 MR. WHITE: The jurors asked me --
21 A JUROR: We are missing one of the pages, I
22 guess it is page 3.
23 MR. WHITE: All right, the one with 6/15/94 on 24 top? 25 A JUROR: There are three of us who don't have
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2899 Pierre-direct/White
1 it.
2 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
3 to the jury.)
4 MR. WHITE: I am sorry, your Honor.
5 MR. DUNN: Your Honor, I have an application, and
6 I probably should have made it about three minutes ago.
7 But pursuant to Rule 403, I would ask that that this last
8 testimony be stricken. There is only evidence of one call
9 to a child with this crayon thing. I feel it is highly
10 prejudicial. The impact came out more when I heard the
11 testimony, as to seeing it in writing. And I
would ask
12 that it be stricken and that the jury disregard it.
13 THE COURT: No. That motion is denied. It is
14 not under Rule 403 unduly prejudicial. It is just
15 prejudicial. All evidence that is contrary to your
16 position is prejudicial, and that is only some of it.
17 MR. NELSON: As the Court might recall I made an
18 application at pretrial for a severance pursuant to
19 Rule 14 under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
20 I would renew that application premised on the
21 testimony of Mr. Pierre.
22 While the Court has provided a limiting
23 instruction that this evidence is introduced solely 24 against Sterling Who's Who and not against my client, I 25 believe that the testimony later developed of the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2900 Pierre-direct/White
1 government trying to demonstrate, that the
same type of
2 practice was practiced by the corporation that my client
3 subsequently became an employee of.
4 I would submit that this testimony of actions
5 when he was not an employee of that company, never became
6 an employee of that company, when balanced against the
7 probative value of it, when balanced denies my client an
8 opportunity to get a fair trial.
9 THE COURT: Motion denied.
10 Anything else?
11 1:30.
12 MR. NELSON: Thank you.
13 (Luncheon Recess.)
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2901 Pierre-direct/White
1 A F T E R N O O N S E S S I O N
2
3 THE CLERK: Every entering.
4 (Whereupon, the jury at this time entered the
5 courtroom.)
6 T
HE COURT: Please be seated, members of the
7 jury.
8 Where is the witness?
9
10 E L L E R Y P I E R R E ,
11 called as a witness, having been previously
12 duly sworn, was examined and testified as
13 follows:
14
15 THE COURT: You may proceed, Mr. White.
16 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, at this time I would like
17 to pass out Exhibit 338 in evidence to the jury.
18 THE COURT: Very well.
19 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
20 to the jury.)
21
22 DIRECT EXAMINATION (cont'd)
23 BY MR. WHITE: 24 Q Mr. Pierre, if you can take out 25 Government's Exhibit 328 in front of you, and that's an
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2902 Pierre-direct/White
1 objection sheet; is that correct?
2 A Yes.
3 Q And can you tell us, under what circumstances would
4
you use this objection sheet as a Sterling sales employee?
5 A If the situation calls for it, if they ask a question
6 that requires a rebuttal.
7 Q If who asks a question?
8 A The potential member.
9 Q All right.
10 Now on Exhibit 338, if you can read -- if you can
11 first take a look at paragraph number 2, where it says
12 literature there.
13 What question is that that would refer to?
14 A When the possible member asks us, tells us that he
15 would like to be able to see literature and requests if we
16 can send him literature before them making a decision as
17 far as joining the club, and that's the rebuttal designed
18 for that question.
19 Q Could you read then what that rebuttal to that
20 question is.
21 A Mr. Blank, we're not a marketing company. We don't
22 seek new members. You have been selected and accept.
23 However, we did
send you a letter with the authorization 24 form which you did send back to us. 25 Q In your experience as a Sterling sales employee, was
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2903 Pierre-direct/White
1 that an accurate statement?
2 A No.
3 Q Now, in what way was it inaccurate?
4 A The company did not send literature to inform them
5 about how Sterling Who's Who was -- the details as far as
6 all their privileges, and what not. That information was
7 not sent to the potential members.
8 Q Now, was Sterling a marketing company?
9 A No.
10 MR. JENKS: Objection.
11 THE COURT: What is a marketing company? I don't
12 know what a marketing company is.
13 MR. WHITE: All right. Let me ask another
14 question.
15 Q The rebuttal here says: We don't seek new members.
16 In your experience as a sales employee,
did
17 Sterling seek new members?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Now, if you can look at paragraph six of that
20 objection sheet, the question says: How do I know I'm
21 going to be accepted?
22 Could you read what the rebuttal is to that
23 question. 24 A Mr. Blank, I'm going to personally walk this over to 25 our review office and they always accept my
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2904 Pierre-direct/White
1 recommendations.
2 Q To your knowledge, was there a review office at
3 Sterling that reviewed customer's qualifications?
4 A Not that I know of.
5 Q Did you ever meet anyone at Sterling that worked in
6 the review office?
7 A No.
8 Q Did you ever make a sale of a membership that was
9 later rejected because the customer was unqualified to be
10 a member?
11 A No.
12 Q Now
, if you can look back up at paragraph number four
13 that says, how was I selected? Can you tell us what the
14 rebuttal is to that question?
15 A Should I read it?
16 Q Yes, please.
17 A At my level I would know. However, I can tell you
18 that some individuals are nominated by the established
19 members and other individuals are submitted to our review
20 office from articles in trade publications and other
21 media.
22 Q Now, were you aware of any other means of selection
23 of members besides the two listed in that paragraph? 24 A I was not informed of it. 25 Q Now, look at Exhibit 390, the top sheet that is an
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2905 Pierre-direct/White
1 objection sheet, and read the rebuttal to the question,
2 how was I selected?
3 A It says, Mr. or Mrs. Blank, I was going to ask you
4 who nominated you, because at my level they don't tell
5 us.
6 Q Now, were those rebuttals or objections to be used
7 with all customers who asked that question, or just some?
8 A All.
9 Q And was that regardless of the actual means of
10 selection of the customer?
11 A Yes, regardless.
12 Q Now, continuing on Exhibit 390, the paragraph
13 numbered three, the question is: What is the cost?
14 Before you tell was the rebuttal is, can you tell
15 us what that referred to?
16 A Personally, I don't understand what it refers to. I
17 always asked my supervisors that.
18 Q And did you receive any reply to your questions?
19 A Stick to your own business.
20 Q Now, can you tell us under what circumstances you
21 would use that rebuttal, number three.
22 A If I hadn't been able to deliver the sales pitch
23 fully, as far as telling them their b
enefits, and later on 24 explaining the payment options, if they would interrupt me 25 suddenly with just asking me, what is the cost of this,
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2906 Pierre-direct/White
1 this would have to be the rebuttal that I employ.
2 Q In other words, if they interrupt your sales pitch?
3 A Yes.
4 Q Now, tell us what the rebuttal was to the question,
5 what is the cost?
6 A Should I read it?
7 Q Yes.
8 A Mr., Mrs. Blank, I don't know if there is a cost
9 involved. I'm just trying to obtain the accurate
10 information.
11 Q Now, was it accurate that you did not know if there
12 was a cost involved?
13 A No.
14 Q Now, while you were employed at Sterling, did you
15 ever see a man named Bruce Gordon?
16 A Yes.
17 Q Tell us under what -- tell us first who Mr. Gordon
18 was?
19 A Mr. Gordon was considered the boss.
20 Q And under what circumstances would you see
21 Mr. Gordon?
22 A We would seldomly see him.
23 MR. DUNN: Objection as to "we". 24 A The company -- 25 THE COURT: Just a minute. When you say "we" are
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2907 Pierre-direct/White
1 you talking about yourself now?
2 THE WITNESS: I would seldomly see him when he
3 would come into the office and just walk around to oversee
4 the performance and rarely we -- or I -- would meet him
5 and other employees.
6 Q Now, first, can you tell us approximately how many
7 times a week you would see Mr. Gordon at the Sterling
8 office?
9 MR. TRABULUS: Objection to form, leading.
10 MR. WHITE: If at all.
11 MR. TRABULUS: Withdrawn.
12 A Approximately once a week and sometimes once every
13 two weeks.
14 Q And can you tell us what the circumstances were under
15 which you would meet with Mr. Gordon as you described
16 before?
17 A The only times I would meet with Mr. Gordon and other
18 employees was to review our performance. And those of us,
19 meaning me and other employees who were in that meeting,
20 were considered at the time high performers.
21 Q Now, if you called a potential customer and he or she
22 was not interested in purchasing a membership, what did
23 you do with their card? 24 A We would put -- I would put an N G, those letters 25 specifically, on the card. And at the end of the day when
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2908 Pierre-direct/White
1 I have accumulated all the cards that were NG'd, I would
2 turn it back to my supervisors.
3 Q What did NG mean?
4 A No good.
5 Q Now, do you know what would happen to these cards
6 that you would turn in?
7 A After the cards are turned in -- incidentally, I
8 would get them back somehow eventually, or other
9 employees, co-employees would get a card that I must have
10 called or someone previously called, and we would call
11 them again and deliver the sales pitch.
12 Q Now, when you called -- when you called -- when you
13 called these potential customers again for -- after the
14 first time, what level of membership would you try to sell
15 them?
16 A The rule would be to always try to sell the highest
17 level of membership first. And when resistance is put on
18 that sales pitch, you would try to sell them the lower
19 forms of membership.
20 Q When you say lower, what do you mean?
21 A As in lower cost.
22 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I have no further
23 questions. 24 MR. TRABULUS: Your Honor, Mr. Jenks, Sterling's 25 attorney, is going to go first with the Court's
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2909 Pierre-direct/White
1 permission.
2 THE COURT: Very well.
3
4 CROSS-EXAMINATION
5 BY MR. JENKS:
6 Q Mr. Pierre, let's first take a look at
7 Government's Exhibit 390. Do you have that in front of
8 you?
9 A Yes.
10 Q All right.
11 Let's take a look at the pitch sheet for 6/15/94,
12 that Mr. White had shown you. Do you see that in front of
13 you?
14 A Yes.
15 Q And that's the pitch sheet you used when you were a
16 salesperson; is that correct?
17 A Yes.
18 Q That's the pitch sheet you say someone gave to you
19 while you were at Sterling Who's Who; is that correct?
20 A Yes.
21 Q By the
way, you were at Sterling Who's Who for just a
22 few short months in 1994; is that correct?
23 A Yes. 24 Q You were there, what, from June of '94, until 25 September of '94, August of '94?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2910 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 A If I don't recall correctly, the last week of August
2 or first week of September.
3 Q So, you were there two to three months at best; is
4 that right?
5 A Yes.
6 Q You had previous sales training prior to working at
7 Sterling Who's Who?
8 A Yes. I worked as a telemarketer previously to this.
9 Q You worked as a telemarketer; is that correct?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Who did you work as a telemarketer for?
12 A I worked for Payne Webber, Inc. they are in the stock
13 market. I worked --
14 Q What were you telemarketing there? What were you
15 doi
ng for Payne Webber?
16 A Marketing bonds, stocks and bonds. I was an
17 assistance to a stockbroker, or what you consider a
18 stockbroker employee.
19 Q You were cold calling people on the phone and trying
20 to sell them stocks and bonds; is that correct?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And that's not what you were doing here at Sterling
23 though, am I right? 24 A No. 25 Q And the people had already sent in these lead cards
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2911 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 and then you were reaching out to them, is that right?
2 A That's how I understood it.
3 Q It wasn't the same as randomly picking up a phone
4 book and dialing the phone number of each person listed in
5 the phone book, was it?
6 A No, it is not.
7 Q You were getting lead cards from your supervisors; is
8 that correct?
9 A Yes.
10 Q By the way, you never worked at Who's Who Worldwide;
11 is that right?
12 A No.
13 Q You never had been to the 1983 Marcus Avenue
14 facility?
15 A No.
16 Q You don't know anything about what occurred at Who's
17 Who Worldwide on Marcus Avenue in Lake Success, do you?
18 A No.
19 Q You had nothing to do with the employ or employees of
20 Who's Who Worldwide in Lake Success; is that right?
21 A No.
22 Q You know you were here in a criminal case; is that
23 right? 24 A That's what I understand. 25 Q You know these people are here for -- under
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2912 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 indictment for various crimes, including the probation,
2 for mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud; is
3 that correct?
4 A No.
5 Q No one told you
that these people were under
6 indictment facing criminal charges as opposed of being
7 employed by Who's Who Worldwide and Sterling Who's Who?
8 A The only thing I am aware of is they are being
9 charged by a crime, a federal crime.
10 Q You are not being charged with a federal crime,
11 right?
12 A Not that I am aware of.
13 Q You say as you sit here that you made
14 misrepresentations to people on the phone; is that
15 correct?
16 A I did not know -- I did not make misrepresentations
17 knowingly to people on the phone.
18 Q As you sit here today did you make misrepresentations
19 to people on the phone?
20 A No, sir I read my script.
21 Q Is it your testimony that what was contained in that
22 script was a misrepresentation to those people?
23 A To my personal understanding, yes. 24 Q When did you acquire this personal understanding,
25 sir, that what was in the script was a misrepresentation?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2913 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 A As I worked in this company closer toward the end of
2 my term there, I came to an understanding that the facts
3 did not match, but I had no evidence of any illegal
4 activity. I just felt that there was something wrong.
5 Q But no one ever showed -- charged you with anything
6 for reading their script, did they?
7 A No.
8 Q These people are charged here for reading their
9 script. Do you know that?
10 A No.
11 Q But the United States Government didn't charge you in
12 any kind of a case with any crime, did they?
13 A No.
14 Q You said you felt that you began to understand that
15 something didn't match up, right?
16 A Yes.
17 Q Yes?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And as a
salesperson in Sterling Who's Who, you had
20 to read the script to customers on the phone, right?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And you say that you later began to understand that
23 something was wrong with the script; am I correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q All right.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2914 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Let's take a look, you and me, at the script
2 together line by line, okay? And you tell me in this
3 script what is not true, all right? Let's do it line by
4 line.
5 It says, hello, Mr. Blank. This is -- I'm the
6 listing coordinator of Sterling Who's Who. We received
7 your application, for which I thank you.
8 Do you see that?
9 A Yes.
10 Q You are the listing coordinator; is that right?
11 A Yes.
12 Q And you were the listing coordinator of Sterling
13 Who's Who; is that right?
14 A One of them, yes.
15 Q We received your application. That's the lead cards,
16 correct?
17 A Yes.
18 Q I thank you. Do you see that?
19 A Yes.
20 Q Anything wrong or anything untrue in that sentence
21 there in that script?
22 A Not that I know of.
23 Q How about this: In order to be listed in the 24 Sterling executive edition, I need to verify the 25 information on your application for accuracy purposes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2915 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Do you see that?
2 A Yes.
3 Q You can't be put in the book unless somebody verifies
4 the application for accuracy purposes; is that correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q There is nothing untrue or incorrect or
7 misrepresented about that statement in the script, is
8 there?
9 A No.
10 Q Let's look at the next o
ne. And I will go through
11 all of this with you, and I want you to tell me, if you
12 can, what you say is untrue here, okay?
13 This sounds wonderful, Mr. Blank. Our members
14 are CEOs and other management people who do business with
15 other members.
16 Do you see that?
17 A Yes.
18 Q You are aware as you sit here that the people that
19 were published in that book are CEOs, many of them are
20 CEOs or chief executive officers of corporations; is that
21 right?
22 A That's what I understand.
23 Q And you are also aware that other people were in fact 24 management people in the book; am I right? 25 A That's what I understand.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2916 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q We don't publish phone numbers for member privacy;
2 that's true, there are no phone numbers in any of those
3 books?
4 A That's what I understand.
5 Q The question, do you have any objection to other
6 members communicating with you by mail pertaining to
7 business, do you see that?
8 A I see it.
9 Q That's just a question you would ask a person on the
10 phone, right?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Are you, by the way, as a salesperson married to this
13 script, what is in this script? Can you deviate from it
14 at all?
15 A No.
16 Q You have to follow it line by line; is that right?
17 A Yes.
18 Q Let's take a look, the jury can take a look with me.
19 I am on Exhibit number 390. It is the pitch sheet of
20 6/15/94.
21 Let's go down this.
22 You received within ten days, the beautiful
23 Sterling Who's Who wall plaque engraved with your name. 24 You see that? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT
REPORTER 2917 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q The members in fact did receive a Sterling Who's Who
2 wall plaque engaged with their name to your knowledge?
3 A That's what the company informed me.
4 Q When they purchased the membership, the company
5 informed you they would get a plaque; is that right?
6 A Yes.
7 Q And that statement is not false; is that correct?
8 A That statement is written correctly.
9 Q That's correct, right?
10 So far everything up until and including line
11 number one is true and accurate; is that right?
12 A To the company's knowledge, that is exposed to us,
13 yes.
14 Q To your knowledge.
15 A To my knowledge, yes.
16 Q Everything is true, right?
17 A Yes.
18 Q All right.
19 Let's look at number two.
20 You'll get the 1,500 page hard cover Who's Who
21 Registry as soon as it is released
.
22 That's true, isn't it, if you bought a
23 membership, you get the Registry, correct? 24 A Yes, correct. 25 Q Plus the quarterly Who's Who Executive Club, am I
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2918 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 right?
2 A Yes.
3 Q I am going to show you Defendant's Exhibit Gordon-F.
4 Is that the quarterly magazine that the customer
5 would get to your knowledge?
6 (Handed to the witness.)
7 A To my knowledge, yes.
8 Q That's the magazine referred to here; am I right?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Where you will see many of your fellow membered
11 profiled.
12 Now, there are members profiled in the magazine;
13 is that correct?
14 A Yes.
15 Q So, number two is true as well, right?
16 A Yes.
17 Q Number three. You'll be listed in the Registry with
18 your profile
for the duration of the membership. You can
19 change your profile at any time without charge.
20 That's true, too, right?
21 A That I understand, yes.
22 Q Right, if you become a member you get your profile
23 listed in the membership for the duration of the 24 membership; is that right? 25 A Yes. I had no means of proving these statements.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2919 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q But you knew that people were listed in these
2 registries when they became members; am I correct?
3 A Yes.
4 Q So far, one, two and three are accurate, right?
5 A To my knowledge, yes.
6 Q Number four -- number three. You can apply for a
7 Who's Who Executive Club gold Master Card. Do you see
8 that?
9 A Yes, I see it.
10 Q That's one of the many benefits that members got
11 becoming a member o
f Sterling Who's Who; is that right?
12 A Yes.
13 Q So that is not false either, correct?
14 A Yes.
15 Q Number four, as a member you can anonymously nominate
16 up to two qualified individuals annually. Do you see
17 that?
18 A Yes.
19 Q That's correct, too, am I right?
20 A To my knowledge, yes.
21 Q Being a member, you had the opportunity to be able to
22 nominate people to become members in Sterling Who's Who,
23 up to two of them on a nomination ballot per year; is that 24 right? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2920 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q So, that is not an inaccurate statement either,
2 right?
3 A To my knowledge, yes.
4 Q The only thing we ask is that you select your
5 nominations carefully, because there is no guaranty of
6 acceptance.
7 Do you see
that?
8 A I see it.
9 Q There is really no guaranty of acceptance, it is so
10 that someone higher than you in the organization can
11 choose for whatever reason, to not accept a person who is
12 an applicant; is that possible?
13 A I have no knowledge of it.
14 Q There were people higher than you; is that right?
15 A Yes.
16 Q When you were in Sterling Who's Who you were in the
17 sales department; is that correct?
18 A Yes.
19 Q You weren't in administration, were you?
20 A No.
21 Q You weren't in publications, were you?
22 A No.
23 Q You didn't sit on Mr. Gordon's lap in his office 24 watching what Mr. Gordon did, did you? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2921 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q So, you have no idea what went on in the
2 administrative, executive end of the c
ompany, other than
3 you selling memberships to potential customers on the
4 phone, right?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Do you have any idea what percentage of people, that
7 salespeople approved on a lead card were either accept or
8 rejected? Do you have any idea of the statistics?
9 A None whatsoever.
10 Q Not at all, right?
11 A No.
12 Q You don't know if 100 percent were accepted or 95
13 percent of them were rejected; is that correct?
14 A After the sales was performed, no, I have no
15 knowledge of the account.
16 Q In other words, once you approved the sale on the
17 lead card, the lead card went someplace else; am I right?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And you don't know whether or not that person was
20 accepted, whether the person actually got the money, or
21 whether in fact they were actually rejected, right?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Number five, and
there are about a dozen more 24 terrific benefits included with this membership. 25 There were numerous benefits associated with
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2922 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 being a member; is that correct?
2 A That's what we were informed.
3 Q All types of benefits, right?
4 A Yes.
5 Q So that is not an inaccurate or false or
6 misrepresented statement, is it?
7 A Not that I know of.
8 Q Now, Mr. Blank, we accept only 1,000 to 1,592 members
9 a month, out of ten to fifteen candidates that apply.
10 You don't have any personal knowledge of what
11 percentage of members were accepted or not accepted,
12 right?
13 A Not to my knowledge.
14 Q The next paragraph on this form in here talks about
15 the cost of membership and the split billing; am I right?
16 A Yes.
17 Q And i
t gives the various prices for each level of
18 membership in that paragraph; is that correct?
19 A Yes.
20 Q And then, after that is verification matter of the
21 plaque, the fact that they are engraving the plaque and
22 they will get an invoice in the mail; is that right?
23 A Yes. 24 Q And this exhibit that Mr. White showed you, the 25 so-called pitch sheet, that you would use to interview a
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2923 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 customer with over the phone, doesn't contain anything
2 false in it, am I right?
3 A That I believe?
4 Q Yes.
5 A Yes.
6 Q What is false in this, sir? We just went through it
7 one by one, from paragraphs one through five, and you just
8 sat here and told me that all these statements in one
9 through five are true, correct? You just told me that,
10 right?
11 A To my knowledge that I cannot verify.
12 Q To your knowledge all these statements in here are
13 true that were made in these pitch sheets; am I right?
14 A I have no facts to back it up.
15 Q To your knowledge everything in here is true; is that
16 right?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And let me ask you this: You worked at -- let's do a
19 little about your work history.
20 How old are you?
21 A 24.
22 Q And prior to working at Sterling Who's Who where did
23 you work? 24 A I worked for several marketing companies. I am 25 trying to jog my memory. It was during my college days.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2924 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q You have been in the telemarketing business before,
2 correct?
3 A Yes.
4 Q You are not new to this, right?
5 A No.
6 Q And yo
u understand that when you are a salesperson in
7 a given place that your job is to sell people, right?
8 A Yes.
9 Q And whether you be -- if you are a salesman in a Ford
10 dealership, an automobile dealer, your job is to sell the
11 product, right?
12 A Yes.
13 Q Your job is to pitch that product as best as you can
14 to the customer; is that right?
15 A Yes.
16 Q If the customer complains about not having a sun roof
17 or a power window or something, your job then is to tell
18 them something to either convince them to buy the car
19 without that; is that right?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And that's exactly what your job was at Sterling, to
22 try to sell to customers from the lead card, memberships
23 in the organization; is that right? 24 A Yes. 25 Q You had no specific management role at Sterling Who's
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, C
M OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2925 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Who, did you?
2 A No.
3 Q You know any of the people sitting in the courtroom?
4 A Yes.
5 Q Mr. Gordon, correct?
6 A Yes.
7 Q Anyone else?
8 A No.
9 Q The only person you know is Gordon, right?
10 A Yes.
11 Q When you worked there, did you get your salary as you
12 were supposed to?
13 A Yes.
14 Q How many telemarketing companies would you say that
15 you worked there?
16 A About four.
17 Q Were those companies involved in scamming people?
18 A No. I was completely aware of their product.
19 Q You were completely aware of the products.
20 You were completely aware of this product, too,
21 correct?
22 A No.
23 Q You never asked to be informed? 24 A Yes. 25 Q Of the product?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, C
M OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2926 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 A Yes.
2 Q And the response was from Mr. Lamb and Mr. Powers to
3 stick to your own business, right?
4 A Yes.
5 Q Now, let me ask you something: Your testimony is
6 that Mr. Lamb and Mr. Powers to -- was to get the name and
7 the telephone number of -- credit card number of these
8 people?
9 A Yes.
10 Q That's what you testified to?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Do you see Mr. Lamb and Mr. Powers sitting here on
13 trial in this courtroom in a criminal case?
14 A No.
15 Q Do you know where they are?
16 A No.
17 Q When did you last speak to them?
18 A When I was employed.
19 Q Did you ask the government why they are not here in a
20 criminal case?
21 A No.
22 Q When you left at the end of August, 1994, you went
23 someplace else to work? 24 A
I went back to school. 25 Q Where did you go to school?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2927 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 A New York City Technical College.
2 Q You got a degree?
3 A I did not finish it. I am one semester short.
4 Q There came a time you went out to Indiana; is that
5 right?
6 A Yes.
7 Q When did you go to Indiana, sir?
8 A Late October of last year.
9 Q October of 1997?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And prior to that you were in the New York area; is
12 that correct?
13 A New York, New Jersey.
14 Q Can you tell me as you sit here today how the United
15 States Government got to you?
16 A I was paged by Mr. Al Pagano.
17 Q You were paged by Mr. Al Pagano?
18 A Yes.
19 Q What does that mean you were paged?
20 A I was paged, a beeper, a beeper device. I was
21 rea
ched by page. When I responded to the page it was
22 Mr. Al Pagano.
23 Q When was that? 24 A This was -- this was sometime in August, if I am 25 correct. It could be July or August. I would say
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2928 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 approximately August of last year.
2 Q August of 1997?
3 A Yes.
4 Q You were already in Indiana then?
5 A No.
6 Q You were in the New York area?
7 A Yes.
8 Q And this is the first time you heard from anyone in
9 the government; is that right?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Prior to that, after leaving your employ at Sterling
12 Who's Who in late August or early September, 1994, did you
13 go to the government to complain about any sales practices
14 at Sterling Who's Who?
15 A No.
16 Q Did you complain to anyone about sales practices at
17 Sterling Who's Who?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Who did you complain to? Did you file any written
20 complaints?
21 A No.
22 Q What you are saying is you verbally complained to
23 someone; is that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And who is it that you say you complained to?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2929 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 A To co-employees.
2 Q Co-employees at the company. Who were the
3 employees? Do you know?
4 A I do not recall them by name. Everybody had a
5 pseudonym.
6 Q Speaking of pseudonym, your pseudonym was Eric
7 Peters; is that correct?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Is it fair to say that salespeople often in
10 telemarketing use pseudonyms, because it is easy for a
11 potential customer to understand the pseudonym?
12 A Yes, and for other reasons.
13 Q You have been in telem
arketing for four companies
14 besides this one; is that right?
15 A Yes.
16 Q What are the reasons that people in telemarketing use
17 pseudonyms?
18 A For the most part to protect them as individuals.
19 You could be looked up in the phone book under your name,
20 and a person could maybe personally harass you, and this
21 is completely unrelated to the job.
22 Q Would you also use a pseudonym so it is easier, like
23 if you had a really long name you would shorten your name 24 and use a pseudonym so it is easier for a customer to 25 understand you?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2930 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 A Yes.
2 Q Or be able to remember your name, correct?
3 A Yes.
4 Q Easier to pronounce, right?
5 A Yes.
6 Q There is nothing inherently wrong, is there, about
7 using a pseudonym
when you are involved in selling a
8 product over the telephone, is there?
9 A Not that I know of.
10 Q I mean all of the companies do it; is that right?
11 A No.
12 Q Not all of them?
13 A No.
14 Q Any of them that you worked for?
15 A This was the first one.
16 Q But you have heard of other companies using
17 pseudonyms to sell products; is that correct?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And there is nothing in and of itself wrong in doing
20 that; is that right?
21 A Yes.
22 THE COURT: Yes there is nothing wrong or yes
23 there is something wrong? 24 THE WITNESS: Yes, there is nothing wrong. 25 THE COURT: All right.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2931 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q When Mr. Pagano paged you, it was in August of '94?
2 A No, August of '97.
3 Q August of '97.
4 Ho
w did he get your pager number? Do you know?
5 A I asked him. He said he retrieved it from my mother.
6 Q If you know, how did he get to your mother?
7 A I guess he called my house.
8 Q Where did he get your mother's number from? Who gave
9 it to him?
10 A I have no knowledge.
11 Q Did you ever ask him, how did you ever find me, I
12 only worked at this place for two or three months?
13 A I assumed being an employee of the Federal Bureau of
14 Investigation he would have access to that information.
15 Q You never asked him who told you to contact me?
16 A No. I never asked him once he stated it was in
17 relationship to my employment at Sterling Who's Who.
18 Q From the time you left Sterling Who's Who up to the
19 present, have you maintained any contact with any
20 employees in the company?
21 A No.
22 Q You never spoke to anybody since you left?
23 A Since I left the company, no. 24 Q How did you get the job there? Who brought you to 25 Sterling Who's Who?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2932 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 A It was advertised in the paper.
2 Q You went on an interviews they looked at you and they
3 hired you; is that correct?
4 A Yes.
5 Q You then began to work in the sales department of
6 that company, right?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Nobody referred you?
9 A No.
10 Q You didn't know anybody prior to going in, right?
11 A No.
12 Q And when Pagano paged you, you dialed back the
13 number?
14 A Yes.
15 Q And you spoke to him; is that right?
16 A Yes.
17 Q And where did you speak to him, over the telephone?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And did he tell you what he is calling you for?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And w
hat did he say he was calling you for?
22 A He was calling me in regards to my employment period
23 at Sterling Who's Who. 24 Q Yes, and did he say what specifically he was calling 25 you for?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2933 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 A He wanted just to the ask me details about my
2 employment.
3 Q When you say he wanted to ask you details, did he
4 then start asking you questions on the phone?
5 A No.
6 Q He said he wants to hook up a meeting?
7 A Yes.
8 Q How long was the initial call you had with Pagano?
9 A I don't recall the amount of time I was on the phone.
10 Q Minutes?
11 A I guess minutes. Minutes would be correct.
12 Q Did you tell him anything in that call about the
13 business practices of Sterling Who's Who?
14 A Not that I recall. We did not get in depth to any
15 matter pertaining to the business.
16 Q Now, there came a time you met Inspector Pagano?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And when was that?
19 A I guess we got together sometime in September before
20 I went on a cruise. I went on a cruise in the month of
21 September. And I recall getting together with him on two
22 occasions before departing to my cruise.
23 Q You met with Inspector Pagano two times; is that 24 correct? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2934 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q Was Mr. White present at any of those meetings?
2 A Yes.
3 Q At how many of those two meetings was Mr. White
4 present at?
5 A He was present in both.
6 Q In both.
7 MR. JENKS: Your Honor, if we may just for a
8 moment approach sidebar with counsel? I need to make a
9 record at the sidebar.
1
0 THE COURT: All right. Come up.
11
12 (Whereupon, at this time the following took place
13 at the sidebar.)
14 MR. JENKS: Your Honor, the only 3500 material we
15 have from this witness is four handwritten pages of notes
16 concerning an interview that Mr. White had with the
17 witness on September 26th, 1997. I would ask Mr. White to
18 state for the record if there are any other handwritten
19 notes that he made, because the witness now says he had
20 two interviews with him. It seems to me not genuine to
21 say no notes were made at another interview. Therefore I
22 asked Mr. White to make a statement on the record as to
23 whether there are any other notes, and if so why we were 24 not provided with them. We have very limited discovery on 25 this witness.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2935 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 MR. WHITE: There are other notes, they are
2 marked 3500-14(a), Mr. Jenks didn't have to make a big
3 show, he could have asked me if I have them.
4 MR. JENKS: I am not making a big show. It is
5 outside the presence of the jury.
6 MR. WHITE: Here it is.
7 MR. JENKS: Have we been provided them?
8 THE COURT: I can give you my copy, instead of
9 wasting all this time.
10 MR. TRABULUS: I can give him my set.
11 MR. SCHOER: Just check your book.
12 MR. JENKS: It is possible, Judge, I have been
13 wrong before.
14 THE COURT: It happens, don't be in the least bit
15 embarrassed.
16 MR. JENKS: I am not.
17 THE COURT: It even happened to me occasionally.
18 MR. TRABULUS: We have not been given notes of
19 the preparatory phone calls that lead to these meetings.
20 MR. WHITE: There are not. As the witness
21 testified they weren't su
bstantive.
22 THE COURT: Anybody else want anything? Maybe
23 indirect rays of the sun that may bounce down on this 24 witness. 25 MR. TRABULUS: Perhaps a shadow.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2936 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 MR. JENKS: It precedes immediately the four
2 pages we have in the book. I just didn't see the four
3 page, the first four pages in the interview.
4 MR. WHITE: Nothing personal taken.
5 THE COURT: Don't worry about it at all.
6
7 (Whereupon, at this time the following takes
8 place in open court.)
9 Q Now, when you had these two interviews with
10 Mr. White, where were they held?
11 A They were held at my place of residence.
12 Q In Elizabeth, New Jersey?
13 A Yes, sir.
14 Q Is they came to see you, am I correct?
15 A Yes, sir.
16 Q And Inspector Pagano came
with them both times?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And was Ms. Scott also there at one of the meetings?
19 A Who is Ms. Scott?
20 Q She is seated next to Mr. White.
21 A One of the meetings.
22 Q One of the meetings.
23 The first meeting you had, up to that point, you 24 had no contact with members of the government, except 25 Inspector Pagano on the phone?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2937 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 A Yes.
2 Q And when you had this first meeting with Ms. Scott
3 and Mr. White, did they tell you what they were there for?
4 A Yes.
5 THE COURT: Hold it a moment, please.
6 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
7 proceedings.)
8 THE COURT: Please proceed.
9 Q Did they tell you what they were there for?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And did they tell you there was a criminal indict
ment
12 pending against Sterling Who's Who and members of Who's
13 Who Worldwide and Who's Who?
14 A And Sterling, yes.
15 Q Did they tell you that they believed the company was
16 involved in fraudulent sales practices?
17 A Yes.
18 Q They told you people had been indicted; is that
19 correct?
20 A They had been charged, yes.
21 Q Charged with a crime?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Did they tell you what they believed to be, the 24 fraudulent sales practices of the company? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2938 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q Did they ask you if you would cooperate?
2 A Yes.
3 Q Did they give you anything to cooperate?
4 A No.
5 Q At any time did they threaten you with perhaps being
6 charged with a crime?
7 A No.
8 Q Did they suggest to you that you shou
ld get a lawyer?
9 A No.
10 Q Did you ask for a lawyer?
11 A No.
12 Q In the first meeting, what else was said to you by
13 the government with respect to Sterling Who's Who and the
14 other employees in the case?
15 A They just asked me questions about my employment
16 during that period of time.
17 Q What kinds of questions did they ask you?
18 A They asked me about if, what did I do, what was my
19 position, pretty much the same questions you have been
20 asking me, they have been asking me here in court in front
21 of the jury.
22 Q Prior to testifying here today, did you meet with
23 members of the government, other than on these two 24 separate occasions? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2939 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q They didn't prepare you to testify here? Nobody told
2
you what questions they would ask you when you got here?
3 A Prior to today?
4 Q Yes.
5 A The only times I met with them had been this morning
6 early before coming into court.
7 Q And those two occasions?
8 A And those two occasions.
9 Q Now, did they tell you that they believed that people
10 were in fact not nominated?
11 A No.
12 Q Now, we talked -- you mentioned the word
13 "nomination." When you were there did you get
14 nomination ballots from people who were your supervisors
15 showing people had been not nominated?
16 A They are considered nomination ballots, the blue
17 cards.
18 Q And how many nomination ballots in the few short
19 months would you say that you received while you were a
20 salesperson at Sterling Who's Who?
21 A I couldn't recall the amount.
22 Q Just an up close guess? 20, 10, 50?
23 A Maybe a h
undred, a little more. 24 Q So, you say while you were the as a salesperson, you 25 received perhaps a hundred or so nomination ballots from
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2940 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 other members?
2 A Yes. That's what I was informed, that those were
3 nomination ballots.
4 Q And those were people who had been nominated by other
5 members; am I correct?
6 A That's what I was explained to, the ballot is not
7 mentioned if it is explained to by somebody, there are no
8 other names.
9 Q You said you received nomination ballots, about a
10 hundred of them, right?
11 A Or more, yes.
12 Q Or more.
13 A Yes.
14 Q That's different from the lead cards?
15 A Yes, it is different.
16 Q We are talking about two different things. The lead
17 cards are cards people sent back in aft
er they got a
18 mailing; is that right?
19 A That's what I was informed, yes.
20 Q And the nomination ballots, these were blue cards; is
21 that right?
22 A Yes.
23 Q And you say in the few short months that you were at 24 Sterling Who's Who that you might have gotten 25 approximately 100 nomination ballots from the group
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2941 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 supervisors?
2 A Yes, during that three-month period.
3 Q It would be a fair statement then to your knowledge
4 that people weren't in fact nominated -- people were in
5 fact nominated to be in the Registry by other members?
6 A I cannot prove that.
7 Q You just said you received nomination ballots; is
8 that correct?
9 A I received nomination ballots, and I cannot prove
10 that they were nominated by someone anonymo
usly.
11 Q But they were on nomination ballot cards; is that
12 correct?
13 A Yes.
14 Q And those nomination ballot cards are different than
15 the lead cards we talked about earlier; is that correct?
16 A Yes.
17 Q And when you got those nomination ballot cards, you
18 didn't see those cards to be in the handwriting of any of
19 your supervisors, did you?
20 A Not that I know of, no.
21 Q So, it is possible as you sit here today that those
22 hundred or so nomination cards or so you received, were
23 actual nominations by other members of different people; 24 is that correct? 25 A It is possible.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2942 Pierre-cross/Jenks
1 Q So, if a person got a letter in the mail telling them
2 that they in fact had been nominated, in some cases that
3 may have been the case;
am I right?
4 A Maybe.
5 MR. JENKS: I have no further questions, Judge.
6 MR. SCHOER: You want me to go?
7 MR. TRABULUS: Why don't you go while I am
8 looking for something.
9
10 CROSS-EXAMINATION
11 BY MR. SCHOER:
12 Q Mr. Pierre, when you were at Sterling and used the
13 name Eric Peters, did you intend to deceive anyone?
14 A No.
15 Q When you read the pitch, those pitch sheets to
16 people, did you intend to deceive them?
17 A I just did my job.
18 Q But you did not intend in your own mind to deceive
19 anyone that you were talking to on the phone, did you?
20 A No, I didn't.
21 Q Now, you indicated when you looked at the pitch
22 sheets presentations, that it said, commence interview; is
23 that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And I think you testified on direct examination by
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR,
CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2943 Pierre-cross/Schoer
1 Mr. White that you asked about their name, their address;
2 isn't that correct?
3 A We confirmed the information that is on the card and
4 asked them other trivia information that was going to be
5 put down in the book.
6 Q Well, did you ask them about their business?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Did you ask them their title?
9 A Yes.
10 Q You didn't just ask their name and address, right?
11 A I would confirm all the information that is on the
12 card, and that's information that is on the card.
13 Q Well, on the card did it indicate what their area of
14 distribution was?
15 A Could you repeat that again?
16 Q On the card, did it indicate what the area of
17 distribution of their service or product was?
18 A I don't recall.
19 Q Do you recall asking the people when you interview
ed
20 them what the area, their area was of the distribution of
21 their product? As to whether they were worldwide or
22 local? Do you remember asking those questions?
23 A I don't recall. 24 Q Did you verify the information that was on the card, 25 do you work at this particular place? How long do you
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2944 Pierre-cross/Schoer
1 work there? Did you ask questions like that?
2 A Yes.
3 Q And the purpose of asking those questions was to
4 determine whether the people qualified to be in these
5 books; is that correct?
6 A No.
7 Q You indicated there was a magazine, the Tribute
8 Magazine, you have one in front of you; is that right?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Did you ever see that before?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Did you ever review that magazine as part of your
13 training whe
n you went to Sterling?
14 A I looked through it.
15 Q Do you remember which magazine it was that you looked
16 through at that time?
17 A This was probably the first one I saw.
18 Q Can I see the cover?
19 A (indicating).
20 Q When you looked through this magazine you saw
21 advertisements for major companies, didn't you?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Hilton, Cadillac, right? 24 A Yes. 25 Q Izod; is that right?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2945 Pierre-cross/Schoer
1 A Yes.
2 Q And you believed this magazine to be a legitimate
3 magazine; is that right?
4 A I believe so.
5 Q Nothing illegal about this, right?
6 A Nothing illegal with the advertising.
7 Q Nothing in this magazine that was intended to deceive
8 any people; is that right?
9 A I did not read it thoroughly.
10 Q Did you read the part about the member profiles in
11 the magazine?
12 A I would browse through it.
13 Q As far as you understood and knew as a salesperson,
14 these people were all members of either Sterling or Who's
15 Who Worldwide; is that right?
16 A That's what I understood.
17 Q You had no reason not to believe that, right?
18 A No.
19 Q And there was an advertisement for a network tee and
20 tennis weekend at Hilton Head. Do you remember that?
21 A Yes.
22 Q You had no reason to believe that it was not going to
23 happen if enough people signed up, did you? 24 A No. 25 Q It was advertised in this magazine, right?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2946 Pierre-cross/Schoer
1 A Yes.
2 Q And you as a salesperson were given this magazine to
3 review so you could speak to people on the
phone about the
4 benefits; isn't that so?
5 A No.
6 Q Well, there were benefits listed in the magazine,
7 weren't there?
8 A Yes, but we were told not to include them in the
9 sales page.
10 Q You were told not to include the benefits?
11 A Not those benefits not listed on the sales pitch.
12 Q Okay.
13 Were you told to include the CD-ROM?
14 A The CD-ROM -- there were certain sales pitches that
15 included, yes, the CD-ROM; and that if the person was
16 willing to purchase the CD-ROM, that was included.
17 Q It wasn't one of the five listed benefits in the
18 portion you reviewed with Mr. Jenks, was it?
19 A It is in the bottom paragraph before the lined
20 margins.
21 Q And that bottom paragraph, by the way, you indicated
22 that that the rule was always to sell the highest level?
23 A The preferred would go first, you would enco
urage 24 someone to take the platinum. 25 Q Doesn't this pitch say specifically, I would suggest
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2947 Pierre-cross/Schoer
1 the preferred membership because it is less expensive?
2 A Yes, but we were encouraged.
3 Q Isn't it a fact that you were pitching, if you
4 followed the pitch, that you were pitching the less
5 expensive membership; isn't that correct?
6 A Yes.
7 Q Now, while you were there, were you given any
8 registries to look at as part of your training?
9 A No.
10 Q Did you ever see a Sterling Registry?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Did you review this Registry, sir?
13 A I browsed through it.
14 (Handed to the witness.)
15 Q Was this the Registry you saw?
16 A No.
17 Q Was there another Sterling Registry you saw?
18 A It was a much thicker book.
19 Q A much thicker book.
20 Q Was it this one?
21 (Handed to the witness.)
22 A It was Who's Who. It didn't say Sterling on it.
23 Q It was a Who's Who Registry book? 24 A Yes. 25 Q Right?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2948 Pierre-cross/Schoer
1 A Yes.
2 Q They told you that's eventually what Sterling would
3 be, or somewhat smaller?
4 A Yes, that was their goal, as far as informing
5 employees.
6 Q Did you get a chance to look through the Registry?
7 A I looked through it, yes.
8 Q You saw in the Registry that people who were in the
9 Registry were business people?
10 A For the most part.
11 Q During the time of the two months you were there, do
12 you have any idea how many memberships you sold?
13 A There was a time that I sold quite a few.
14 Q Would hundred
s be fair?
15 A No, I don't believe it would.
16 Q More than 50?
17 A At my highest performance sale, I probably averaged
18 about four, five customers a day. And that was considered
19 very acceptable.
20 Q Four or five customers a day is almost 20 a week; is
21 that correct?
22 A Yes, at my highest point, which I consider I was
23 probably at my highest point for about a three or 24 four-week period. 25 Q Would you say you sold between 50 and a hundred?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2949 Pierre-cross/Schoer
1 A I would say fairly, yes, it is fair to say.
2 Q Any of the people you sold, did you intend to deceive
3 them in any way when you pitched them?
4 A No, I did not intend to.
5 Q Did you intend to provide a product to those people?
6 A I was hoping to, yes.
7 Q The product was the boo
k, the magazine and all the
8 benefits pertinent to a membership; isn't that correct?
9 A Yes.
10 MR. SCHOER: I have no further questions.
11
12 CROSS-EXAMINATION
13 BY MR. TRABULUS:
14 Q Mr. Pierre, I am Mr. Gordon's lawyer. I would like
15 you to take a look at 390. Do you have it there?
16 A Yes, sir.
17 Q You say it is a set of objections utilized by you?
18 A Yes, at one point.
19 Q At one point; is that correct?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And that was a set of objections that were to be used
22 by you in connection with what you termed the sales
23 pitches; is that right? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And the pitches, they were just basically notes to
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2950 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 follow while you were interviewing members over the
2 telephone?
3 A Yes.
4 Q You were told you had to stick to the pitch; is that
5 correct?
6 A Yes.
7 Q When Mr. Gordon came and addressed salespeople on the
8 relatively rare and infrequent occasions you said he was
9 there, did he tell the salespeople stick to the pitch?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Did he ever tell them if they didn't stick to the
12 pitch they could be fired?
13 A That could be a possible cause for getting fired,
14 yes.
15 Q Did he tell the salespeople, if you lie you will get
16 fired? Did you hear that?
17 A Yes, if we ever got away from the sales pitch we
18 could be in danger of losing our job.
19 Q Specifically, were you told by Mr. Gordon, if you
20 lie, you are out of here, or if you lie you are fired? Do
21 you recall ever being told that?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Do you recall Mr. Gordon ever telling you that you 24 don't have to call every
card? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2951 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Do you recall Mr. Gordon telling you he didn't want
2 you to call every card, that you should send back some
3 cards?
4 A No.
5 Q Do you recall him telling you he didn't want the
6 regional -- he didn't want the manager of K-Mart, just the
7 regional manager of 20 or 40 K-Marts? Did you ever hear
8 that?
9 A I do not recall.
10 Q You might have heard that?
11 A He emphasized us being successful salesmen.
12 Q But he wanted higher level people; is that correct?
13 A Yes, to a certain degree he emphasized that.
14 Q He didn't want to emphasize one K-Mart, he looked for
15 a person in charge of a group of K-Marts, that's the type
16 of people he was calling for?
17 A I don't remember specifics.
18 Q You don't
remember specifics.
19 You say 390 was used in the course of
20 interviewing prospective members; is that correct?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And it was supposed to meet the questions that they
23 posed to you; is that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q To kind of reassure them or get them on track so you
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2952 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 could continue with the pitch; is that correct?
2 A Yes.
3 Q You also say that 338 has a set of objections also,
4 and that was also used; is that correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Now, you said that there was -- that one of the
7 objections on 390 was in response to a question, what is
8 the cost, and the response would be Mr. or Mrs. Blank, I
9 don't know if there is a cost involved, I am just trying
10 to obtain the accurate information. And you are saying
11 thi
s is what you would tell people who would ask questions
12 about the cost when you were trying to sell them
13 something; is that correct?
14 A When we were interviewing them in the commence
15 interview and they asked that question, yes.
16 Q And then down the road, a little bit down on the same
17 page of the pitch sheet, you would give a pitch where you
18 lay out the costs, you would say a preferred membership, I
19 am referring to the June 15th one, a preferred membership
20 was only $349 now, and $149 later; is that correct?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And the platinum membership was only $439 now, $449
23 now and $149 later; is that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q You made it clear they had to pay later when the book
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2953 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 came out; is that correct?
2 A Yes.
3
Q And it is your testimony that right after telling
4 them you didn't know whether there was a cost involved,
5 you would then begin to give them the various pricing
6 options; is that correct?
7 A Yes. That's what we were paid to do.
8 Q And that's the way things went for you.
9 Now, according to you, this 390, when a member
10 would ask how I was selected, and that's paragraph two,
11 there is a response there; is that correct?
12 A Yes.
13 Q And you would understand, would you not, that when
14 somebody asked, how was I selected, it would mean they
15 didn't know? Does that signify that to you?
16 A I am supposed to tell them that I don't know.
17 Q Well, if somebody asks you, how am I selected, and
18 unless they got something in the back of their head, some
19 kind of ulterior motive, wouldn't it suggest that they
20 didn't know how they were selected?
21 A Yes, it would suggest they don't know.
22 Q It is your testimony that the company told you in
23 response to somebody who asked that question, Mr. or Mrs. 24 Blank, I was going to ask you who nominated you, because 25 at my level they don't tell us? Is that what you were
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2954 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 told to tell those people?
2 A Yes. I was informed to read this from the script.
3 Q How about number four, where it says how long in
4 business? That's what you were supposed to answer when
5 asked how long the people -- the company was in business;
6 is that correct?
7 A Yes.
8 Q And according to you the company had you say what is
9 written there, right, below that?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And that says, I don't know, Mr. Blank.
12 What time is it now?
13 Is that what
you would tell the people when they
14 asked how long you were in business?
15 A Yes, we had to read it from the script.
16 Q You wouldn't say I don't know, you wouldn't say just
17 I don't know? Correct? That's your testimony?
18 A Yes.
19 Q You would say, I don't know, Mr. Blank, what time is
20 it now?
21 A With a smile.
22 Q They wouldn't see the smile, would they?
23 A Mr. Smile suggested they would. They would feel it 24 right through the phone. 25 Q You were suggesting by doing that, you would suggest
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2955 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 the company was so new, you would say, what time is it
2 now? It is maybe minutes old?
3 A I don't know what it suggests.
4 Q What does it suggest that kind of an answer to the
5 question? Doesn't it suggest that?
6 A To me it
is irrelevant. I am just reading the slip.
7 Q Mr. Pierre, isn't it a fact that this particular
8 sheet, 390 was prepared as a joke among the people in the
9 company? I am not talking about the other one, I am
10 talking about 390.
11 A I am seeing it.
12 Q Isn't it a fact?
13 A No.
14 Q When Mr. Lamb and Mr. Powers you say told you to mind
15 your own business when they told you to ask about it, do
16 you feel maybe they didn't want to embarrass you by making
17 you realize that you hadn't figured out it was a joke?
18 A I have no knowledge of that.
19 Q Let's talk about the other objection sheet.
20 You were asked about one that said under
21 literature, we are not a marketing company. We don't seek
22 new members, right? You would tell that to people, right,
23 if they made that objection and asked for literature, 24 right? 25 A I would r
ead that, yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2956 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Now, you would call them in response to a card they
2 sent in; is that your understanding?
3 A Yes.
4 Q And you would call them because you were seeking to
5 get new members as your job as a salesman; is that right?
6 A Yes.
7 Q And there was no secret about the fact that the
8 company was seeking new members; is that correct?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Is that was certainly apparent from the people you
11 were talking to, just about what was going on, right?
12 A It was very obvious.
13 Q None of them would be fooled by anything like this,
14 right? It was just talk, puffery, right?
15 A I can't attest to that.
16 Q There was one about Marquis Who's Who, number one on
17 this sheet. And that is like something to say, if someone
18 brought something about another Who's Who, the Marquis
19 publications; is that correct?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And you weren't supposed to say we are part of that,
22 were you?
23 A No. 24 Q In fact you were supposed to say we are not part of 25 that; is that right?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2957 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 A Yes.
2 Q You were supposed to say that we are better, just
3 like Cadillac is better than Lincoln, right?
4 A No, I was supposed to read the script.
5 Q Why don't you read it to the jury now so they can
6 hear it.
7 A Mr. Blank, they are book sellers and offer no
8 services. They print personal information, for example,
9 how many times you have been married and divorced, the
10 names and ages of your children, and quite frankly,
11 Mr. Blank, in this climate, you may not
want this.
12 Q That's the part about Marquis Who's Who?
13 A Yes.
14 Q And you were -- you would distinguish the membership
15 in Sterling, from the membership in the Marquis
16 publication by referring to the facts that they print
17 personal information, and Sterling would not; is that
18 correct?
19 A Yes.
20 Q And that's part of the emphasizing Sterling as being
21 a business publication; is that correct?
22 A To my knowledge.
23 Q Number four, how was I selected? And that's how you 24 would say -- what you would say when someone asked, how 25 was I selected, correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2958 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 A Yes, I would read that.
2 Q That's when you would read what is on this, correct?
3 A Yes.
4 Q And it says: At my level I wouldn't know. However,
5 I c
an tell you that some individuals are nominated by the
6 established members and other individuals are submitted to
7 our review office from articles in trade publications and
8 other media.
9 Is that what you would read to them?
10 A Yes, when I had that script.
11 Q You wouldn't tell them that everybody was obtained
12 from a nomination of an established member, would you?
13 A No, I would read the script.
14 Q When reading the script you would let them know they
15 can come from another source other than a nomination by an
16 established member; is that correct?
17 A Yes.
18 Q If you deviated from the slip that could be grounds
19 for being fired; is that correct?
20 A Yes, sir.
21 Q Did you ever see a plaque of the sort sent out by
22 Sterling?
23 A Yes. There was one in the room hanging. 24 Q May I show you Defendant's Exhibit R for
25 Identification?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2959 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 (Handed to the witness.)
2 Q Is this an example of a Sterling plaque?
3 A Yes, it is.
4 MR. TRABULUS: I would offer it in evidence, your
5 Honor.
6 THE COURT: Any objection?
7 MR. WHITE: No, your Honor. May I just take a
8 look at it?
9 MR. TRABULUS: Certainly.
10 THE COURT: Defendant's Exhibit R, for Roger, in
11 evidence.
12 (Defendant's Exhibit R received in evidence.)
13 MR. TRABULUS: May I publish it to the jury?
14 THE COURT: Yes.
15 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
16 to the jury.)
17 Q You told the members of the jury that there were
18 cards you saw from people who were farmers; is that
19 correct?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Do you know if any person was listed in Who's
Who or
22 Sterling with the profession "farmer"?
23 A Not that I know of. 24 Q As far as you know none were listed; is that correct? 25 A Yes, as far as I know.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2960 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Even if you saw a card that said farmer, it doesn't
2 mean that that person actually got into a directory; is
3 that correct?
4 A It could be.
5 Q As far as you know they didn't; is that correct?
6 A It could be.
7 Q Well, when you say it could be, I want to know if I
8 know very definitely what you are saying.
9 Are you telling me it is your best knowledge that
10 there are no farmers in the Sterling directory?
11 A I had never seen a farmer in the Sterling directory.
12 Q When you say you never saw a farmer in the Sterling
13 directory, would you like to have an opportunity to l
ook
14 further to see whether you can find one?
15 A If I had the time, yes.
16 Q Are you aware of the CD-ROM?
17 A Yes, I am aware of it.
18 Q Are you aware one can input into the CD-ROM different
19 type of businesses and see if there are any members that
20 fit that description?
21 A Yes. I am very well aware of the CD-ROM and how it
22 operates.
23 Q Have you ever seen the CD-ROM? 24 A I've seen it. 25 MR. TRABULUS: Bear with me a moment, your Honor.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2961 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 THE COURT: Yes.
2 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
3 proceedings.)
4 Q I will show you Defendant's Exhibit S.
5 (Handed to the witness.)
6 Q Does that appear to be the CD-ROM?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Version W2.2 or release W2.2?
9 A I don't recall t
he release.
10 MR. TRABULUS: I offer Defendant's Exhibit S in
11 evidence, your Honor.
12 THE COURT: Any objection?
13 MR. WHITE: No, your Honor.
14 THE COURT: Defendant's Exhibit S for Sugar, in
15 evidence.
16 (Defendant's Exhibit S received in evidence.)
17 THE WITNESS: This is quite a privilege.
18 Q I beg your pardon?
19 A This is quite a privilege. I always wanted to do
20 this.
21 Q You say you are familiar with the operation of a
22 CD-ROM?
23 A I haven't operated this one per se, so I am not 24 familiar with the technology. 25 Q Okay.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2962 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 A The cursor is not working.
2 Q It seems to be all right.
3 For the benefit of the jury can you see --
4 describe what you see in front of you?
5 A It is a screen i
n which all of the adjectives are
6 present, first name, last name, middle initial, address,
7 title, suite, city, state, zip code, Providence, country,
8 country zip code. Then the content continues, type of
9 business, major product or service, type of organization,
14 this to the jury, I don't know how to be able to
15 physically have it passed it down. But I want them to be
16 able to see the screen. May I approach the jury?
17 THE COURT: Any objection?
18 MR. WHITE: No, your Honor.
19 THE COURT: Yes, you may.
20 MR. TRABULUS: Thank you.
21 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
22 to the jury.)
23 Q What have I typed in next to type of bus
iness? 24 A Farmer. 25 Q And I am going to do this, press this button that
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2963 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 sigma on it, what does it say?
2 A Term "farmer" not found.
3 Q I will leave this here for a bit.
4 Now, you also testified, did you not, that at a
5 certain point in time you received, or it came to you that
6 there was a card written in crayon; is that correct?
7 A Yes, sir.
8 Q This card was not an NG card, was it?
9 A No, it wasn't.
10 Q You were the very first salesperson to receive that
11 card; is that correct?
12 A Yes, sir.
13 Q When you looked at the card that was in crayon, was
14 it apparent to you that it was a child's handwriting?
15 A Yes, it was a nominating ballot. The handwriting was
16 obviously a child's.
17 Q It is not your testi
mony, is it, that you are
18 familiar with any business practice of Sterling, or Who's
19 Who, or any other company here, to actually target
20 children; is that correct?
21 A No, I am not aware of it.
22 Q And indeed, this could have been a situation in which
23 something was sent to a parent, and the child filled it 24 back and sent it back, right? Such a thing could happen, 25 correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2964 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 A It's possible.
2 Q And it may have been sent to a perfectly appropriate
3 person; is that correct?
4 A It's possible.
5 Q Now, when you received this card, you did not on your
6 own decide to discard it, did you?
7 A No, I consulted --
8 Q Yes or no, sir?
9 A No.
10 Q Upon selling a membership, if indeed one was sold in
11 relation to th
at card, you would receive a commission,
12 would you not?
13 A Yes.
14 Q And the commission would be how much?
15 A I don't recall the percentages right now.
16 Q Do you know whether or not Mr. Lamb or Mr. Powers
17 received any percentage compensation based upon sales, or
18 whether or not they were simply on a straight salary? Do
19 you know one way or another?
20 A No, I don't know one way or another.
21 Q It is your testimony that you made a decision upon
22 receiving this card, to pursue it; is that correct?
23 A No. 24 Q You then pursued it by saying, you say, to Mr. Lamb 25 or Mr. Powers; is that correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2965 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 A Yes.
2 Q When you made this sale as you say it was -- by the
3 way, was the child a male or a female? Do you know?
4 A
Yes, it was a male.
5 Q It was has male child.
6 Do you recall the name?
7 A No, I don't recall the name, but it was a male child,
8 I recall.
9 Q Do you recall where the child lived?
10 A No. I don't recall any specific information.
11 Q Did you prepare any information relating to this
12 child for inclusion in the Registry?
13 A Yes.
14 Q Did you list an occupation for the child?
15 A Yes.
16 Q And what was the occupation that you listed?
17 A Artist.
18 Q In those words, as an occupation; is that correct?
19 A Yes, that was the occupation that I was approved to
20 list.
21 Q And that would go under business; is that correct?
22 A Yes, under title and under business, yes.
23 Q Both titles and business? 24 A Yes. 25 MR. TRABULUS: Your Honor, with the Court's
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REP
ORTER 2966 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 permission, the battery on this is running low, and if I
2 can just hook it into the wall outlet.
3 THE COURT: Sure.
4 (Counsel confer.)
5 MR. TRABULUS: Your Honor, Mr. White has asked to
6 see the CD-ROM that is actually in there.
7 MR. WHITE: I will look at it during the break
8 not to hold things up.
9 THE COURT: All right.
10 Q Under title, I am going to type in artist? Does it
11 indicate 49, 49 entries with that?
12 A Yes.
13 Q I am pressing another button here; and I am coming up
14 with a list of names.
15 Look at the names. Do any of them look familiar
16 to you as that of the child? I am only on the first part
17 of it. There is more of the list.
18 A No.
19 Q Now, when you made a listing of this child, did you
20 include a business name with the place where the child
was
21 working, or supposedly working? You didn't fabricate a
22 name, did you?
23 A No, the child did. 24 Q The child gave you a fabricated name? 25 A The child gave me a name of what he would consider
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2967 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 his enterprise.
2 Q Do you recall what that name was?
3 A No, I don't recall.
4 Q Was it a childish name, or a grown up type name?
5 A It seemed to be a grown-up type name. It didn't
6 sound like a child's enterprise.
7 Q Do you know if there was -- there are child artists;
8 is that correct?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Did you speak to the child's mother?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Did the mother describe the child as a prodigy?
13 A Yes, and very proud of him.
14 Q Did she tell you that the child's artwork was
15 actually displayed or diss
eminated through some business?
16 A No, she did not disclose exactly that information.
17 Q Did you ask her whether or not the name that the
18 child had given you was in fact the name of a real
19 business through which this child's art had been
20 displayed?
21 A No.
22 Q You didn't care?
23 A No. 24 Q Now, do you see that there is a bunch of companies 25 listed here. Do you recognize any of those names as being
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2968 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 that of the child -- that the child gave?
2 A I don't recall. What I am remembering right now is
3 something to the effect of freelancer, self-employed, but
4 it was something to that effect.
5 Q On this one, the only freelancer listed on this page
6 is a female named Vicky; is that correct?
7 A Yes, that's what I see so far.
8 Q And we are continuing down to the next page. Take a
9 look at the names.
10 Do you recognize any of them as being that of the
11 child?
12 A No, I don't see any that would.
13 Q There are no freelancers listed here, are there?
14 A Not under the term "freelancer," no.
15 Q You testified that the child gave you a name of a
16 business?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And the name was something like freelancer?
19 A There was something there that I would recall, that
20 would give me the idea of him being the only person like
21 him in this venture.
22 Q Continuing to the end of the list.
23 Do you see any more freelancers? 24 Do you recognize the name of the child or the 25 business.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2969 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 There is one freelancer, Josephine Rosa,
2 freela
nce makeup, that was not the child, was it?
3 A No. It was a male.
4 Q Do you see anything familiar?
5 A No, nothing that I can remember.
6 Q You said the name can be also under type of business,
7 and we will try that, too, under kind of business, we will
8 try that category. The title, artist.
9 Again let me printout a screen. How many
10 listings here.
11 A There are two.
12 Q One of them is a female name; is that correct?
13 A Yes.
14 Q The other is Francis J. DeBuda, indicated as self
15 employed, D E, B U D A, Francis is spelled,
16 F R A N C I S. Yes? Is that a second listing there?
17 A Yes.
18 Q Indicating a New Mexico place of residence?
19 A Yes, that's what it says.
20 Q We have a more detailed list for DeBuda, it says
21 distinguished scholar, visual arts, science, under
22 university degree.
23 Did this child
tell you he had a distinguished 24 scholar university degree? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2970 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Did he say his hobbies were sports, photography and
2 swimming?
3 A I don't recall what his hobbies were. But I do
4 recall he did not have a degree.
5 Q So, this was not that child, correct?
6 A Possibly not.
7 Q Did this child tell you his favorite magazine was
8 Natural Sciences?
9 A I don't recall.
10 Q And that's the listing here; is that correct?
11 A Yes.
12 Q And as far as you had seen there is no listing on
13 this CD-ROM that would correspond to the child that you
14 are talking about; is that correct?
15 A Yes.
16 What year is this listing?
17 Q Well, the CD-ROM says 1993, but this listing, we can
18 assume may be 1994.
19
Let me ask you this: What was the shortest
20 period of membership that you would sell at Sterling,
21 three years?
22 A I don't recall all the periods of membership. But,
23 yes, the offer would be three years, they would have to 24 renew it. 25 Q And the a member, if somebody became a member in
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2971 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 1993, they would still be a member in 1994, would they
2 not?
3 A Yes, if they became members.
4 Q And the list would only be added to; isn't that
5 correct?
6 A Yes.
7 THE COURT: Have you concluded this phase?
8 MR. TRABULUS: This particular phase, yes, your
9 Honor.
10 THE COURT: Members of the jury, we will take a
11 ten-minute recess.
12 Please do not discuss the case, and keep an open
13 mind.
14 (Whereupon, at this t
ime the jury leaves the
15 courtroom.)
16
17 (Whereupon, a recess is taken.)
18
19 THE CLERK: Jury entering.
20 (Whereupon, the jury at this time entered the
21 courtroom.)
22 THE COURT: Please be seated, members of the
23 jury. 24 You may proceed. 25 MR. TRABULUS: Thank you, your Honor.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2972 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1
2 CROSS-EXAMINATION (cont'd)
3 BY MR. TRABULUS:
4 Q Mr. Pierre, tell the jury what copyright date appears
5 on this disk?
6 A 1993.
7 Q It says member Registry release W2.2?
8 A Yes.
9 Q And it indicates it is from the Who's Who Executive
10 Club; is that correct?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Is it your understanding that the Who's Who Executive
13 Club CD-ROM included members of both Who's Who Worldwide
14 and as well as members of Sterling?
15 A I was never too clear about that.
16 Q Well, when you the CD-ROM to people, did you tell
17 them something to the effect, you would not get only the
18 membership of Sterling, but you would get the membership
19 of another organization? Did you tell them that?
20 A No.
21 Q You testified also that the membership was
22 cumulative? Once you joined, in other words, you would
23 remain in for the member of -- remainder of your term; is 24 that correct? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2973 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 Q So, if there would be additional people -- withdrawn.
2 Were you aware of several different releases of
3 the CD-ROM?
4 A No.
5 Q Well, during the three months that you were there, I
6 suppose there was only one, correct, that you were a
ware
7 of?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Did you actually ever see it at the time?
10 A Visually, yes.
11 Q Do you remember today what number was on it?
12 A No.
13 Q Now, when somebody is named -- withdrawn.
14 When somebody became a member, their name would
15 go into the CD-ROM; is that correct?
16 A That's what we were informed.
17 Q And you had no reason to think that anybody's name
18 would go into it twice if they only became a member once;
19 is that correct?
20 A That's my understanding.
21 Q So, if someone became a member, it would only go in
22 once; is that correct?
23 A That's my understanding. 24 Q You don't know, as you sit here today at this point, 25 you don't know whether or not even though it may say
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2974 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 copyright 19
93, that particular CD-ROM might have been an
2 updated version produced later, do you?
3 A No. I would have no information on that.
4 Q Now, I am going to -- I am going to type in a name.
5 Can you tell the jury what name I just typed in?
6 A I guess it is pronounced Heinbaugh.
7 Q Heinbaugh?
8 A Yes.
9 Q H E I N B A U G H?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And I am going to press the same button we had before
12 for a search.
13 How many does it show listed next to Heinbaugh?
14 A It shows two selections.
15 Q I am going to press the one we do for preparing a
16 list.
17 What shows up?
18 A There is a repeat. It is a repeat. The two listings
19 are the same person, repeated twice.
20 Q So, the first person is Heinbaugh Jack T W U S A T V,
21 and under the state it says DC; is that correct?
22 A Yes.
23 Q And the second listing is i
dentical; is that correct? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And would that suggest to you that that person had
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2975 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 become a member twice?
2 A It could suggest that.
3 Q Indeed, if he had become a member twice, then the
4 date of that CD would be after the date when he had become
5 a member the second time; is that correct?
6 A Yes, it could be.
7 Q And if that date -- if the evidence in this case was
8 that that person first became a member a second time in
9 Sterling sometime following November of 1994, that would
10 indicate to you that that CD is updated at least through
11 that; is that correct?
12 A Yes, that could be.
13 Q And that was after you stopped working at Sterling
14 Who's Who; is that correct? November 1994.
15 A Yes.
16 Q And so, that wo
uld have been after, you say, you sold
17 the membership to the child; is that correct?
18 A Yes.
19 Q And that update would have occurred after any entry
20 with regard to that child should have been made; is that
21 correct?
22 A Yes. And --
23 When was this entry made? 24 Q I am not a witness. 25 I can show you this: Did you ever see the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2976 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 Sterling book itself, the slenderer version of it?
2 A No.
3 Q I am showing the witness Defendant's Exhibit T for
4 Identification.
5 (Handed to the witness.)
6 Q You never saw this?
7 A No.
8 MR. TRABULUS: Notwithstanding that, would the
9 government stipulate to its admission in evidence at this
10 point?
11 MR. JENKS: It is already in evidence.
12 (Defense counsel confer.)
13 MR. TRABULUS: Would the government stipulate it
14 being in evidence?
15 MR. WHITE: No objection.
16 THE COURT: Defendant's Exhibit T for Tiger, in
17 evidence.
18 (Defendant's Exhibit T received in evidence.)
19 Q Now, if you look at Defendant's Exhibit T in
20 evidence, it says: Sterling executive edition, 1994,
21 1995, does it not?
22 A Yes, that's what it says.
23 Q And I would like to you look in here, and if you do, 24 tell me whether you can find any entry for Mr. Heinbaugh. 25 While you are looking, if there is no evidence of
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2977 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 Mr. Heinbaugh there, is it not a fact that this CD-ROM was
2 prepared not after it was published, but after it was sent
3 to the printer in that form?
4 A No, that entry isn't here.
5 Q And I
don't know if you looked at all the different
6 entries in there, but if you do I think you will find
7 there is no entry for Mr. Heinbaugh in that book; so does
8 that suggest that that CD was prepared after that book?
9 A No.
10 Q It wouldn't suggest that to you?
11 A No.
12 Q Okay.
13 If I also showed you a document in evidence, 52-H
14 in evidence to Mr. Heinbaugh, informing him it was on
15 November 3rd, 1994 that a letter was sent -- I mean a
16 letter dated November 3rd, 1994, inviting him for
17 inclusion in CD -- in Sterling, would that also suggest to
18 you in light of the double entry to Mr. Heinbaugh in here
19 that that CD-ROM was prepared after that book?
20 A This could suggest that.
21 Q And, again, we saw no entry for farmer in there at
22 all; is that correct?
23 A Yes. 24 Q And you would find no entry that corresponded t
o the 25 child; is that correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2978 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 A Yes.
2 Q You mentioned before, and I am going into another
3 area, that there was a question that you were supposed to
4 ask prospective members. Do you have any objection to
5 other members communicating to you by mail pertaining to
6 business. Do you recall that?
7 A Yes.
8 Q As part of the pitch?
9 At any time did anybody you ever spoke to whom
10 you asked that question say, yes, I object to somebody
11 communicating with me by mail pertaining to business?
12 A No.
13 Q So, you never had occasion to note down a negative
14 answer; is that correct?
15 A No.
16 Q It's not correct?
17 A What you state is correct.
18 Q And, indeed, would it not be inconceivable that
19 anybody wou
ld be interested in being listed in a business
20 oriented directory, and not be interested in having other
21 people be in touch with them at least by mail?
22 A It seems inconceivable.
23 MR. TRABULUS: No further questions. 24 Mr. White, do you want me to leave the CD-ROM up 25 there?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2979 Pierre-cross/Trabulus
1 MR. WHITE: Yes. Leave it there, please.
2 MR. NELSON: I have some questions.
3 THE COURT: Sure. Go ahead.
4 MR. NELSON: Thank you.
5
6 CROSS-EXAMINATION
7 BY MR. NELSON:
8 Q Good afternoon, Mr. Pierre.
9 A Good afternoon.
10 Q I believe you testified on questioning by Mr. Jenks
11 that you would have attended a number of meetings with
12 Mr. Gordon; is that correct?
13 A Yes.
14 Q And I believe you indicated that the meetings were
15 meetings between Mr. Gordon and the leading salespersons;
16 is that right?
17 A At the time, yes.
18 Q It was the people doing the best at that particular
19 time as sales persons at Sterling Who's Who; is that
20 right?
21 A Yes, that's what I understand.
22 Q I believe you had testimony that there were points in
23 which you were given nomination cards you used to call up 24 prospective members; is that right? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2980 Pierre-cross/Nelson
1 Q These were the blue cards; is that correct?
2 A Yes.
3 Q You also received another form of cards, the lead
4 card, likewise used for calling up different prospective
5 members; is that right?
6 A Yes.
7 Q And am I correct that the nomination cards were only
8 provided to people, salespeople who were con
sidered to be
9 the leading salespeople?
10 A Yes.
11 Q You were given the cards for people who were
12 allegedly nominated by other members who were already
13 members; is that correct?
14 A Yes, that's what I understand.
15 Q Would it be fair to say the reason it was given to
16 the better salespeople for purposes of making those
17 particular sales, is since because a member had already
18 made a nomination and a recommendation, to a large extent
19 the person had already been pre screened by another
20 member; is that correct?
21 A Not necessarily.
22 Q You indicated that during the course of your
23 employment there there were these cards circulated, the 24 lead cards, called the NG cards; is that right? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2981 Pierre-cross/Nelson
1 Q And the NG ca
rds are a card for a second call to be
2 made; is that correct?
3 A The NG card are the same listed or nominated ballot
4 cards which were not successful.
5 Q Am I correct in stating that the NG cards were
6 primarily provided to you when you were first came for
7 employment in the company? They were given for purposes
8 of training new salespeople out?
9 A Yes, and also --
10 Q Please answer the question yes or no.
11 A Yes.
12 Q And am I correct that you also indicated that during
13 the course of your employment, you sold between 50 and 100
14 memberships; is that right?
15 A Possibly.
16 Q Now, of the 50 to 100 memberships you sold, as best
17 as you can recollect, what percentage were from nomination
18 cards as opposed from lead cards?
19 A The higher percentage was nomination cards.
20 MR. NELSON: Thank you, I have no -- just a
21 couple of other points.
22 Q You indicated during the course of your meeting with
23 Mr. Gordon, he would advise you not to lie and to follow 24 the script, under the pain of potentially losing 25 employment; is that correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2982 Pierre-cross/Nelson
1 A Yes.
2 Q Am I correct that the group managers, the people who
3 provided you with both the nomination and lead cards, made
4 the exact same instructions to you?
5 A Yes.
6 MR. NELSON: Thank you.
7 No further questions.
8
9 CROSS-EXAMINATION
10 BY MR. DUNN:
11 Q Good afternoon, Mr. Pierre.
12 A Good afternoon.
13 Q My name is Thomas Dunn.
14 Mr. Pierre, when you read -- when you were at
15 Sterling Who's Who how many salespeople were there with
16 the same job that you had?
17 A
Many.
18 Q What is many? More than 50?
19 A I'd say from a visual perspective, about 50.
20 Q 50 people?
21 A Or maybe more.
22 Q Maybe more?
23 A Yes. 24 Q Doing the same job you were doing; is that correct? 25 A Yes. They were doing basically the same job.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2983 Pierre-cross/Dunn
1 Q You mentioned you knew a person named Robert Lamb; is
2 that correct?
3 A Yes, my supervisor.
4 Q At Sterling; is that correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q And did you know a person named Tom Ransill or Tom
7 Randall?
8 A Tom Randall was a co-employee and he was in turn a
9 supervisor.
10 Q And he was at Sterling, correct?
11 A Yes.
12 Q And did you know a person by the name of Andrea
13 Franklin?
14 A Yes. She was in the same position that I have. She
15 was one of the top performers.
16 Q Top performers?
17 A Among the top performers.
18 Q Do you see Ms. Franklin in court today?
19 A I don't recall her. The name I recall very well.
20 But the face I don't recall too well.
21 Q Do you know a person named Robert Stanley?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Does that ring a bell? 24 A Yes, it rings a bell. 25 Q Is that a person who was in a position like yours at
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2984 Pierre-cross/Dunn
1 Sterling Who's Who?
2 A Yes. And he was also considered among the elite
3 performers.
4 Q Do you have an independent recollection as to what he
5 looked like?
6 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
7 proceedings.)
8 Q Let me ask you this: Do you see Robert Stanley in
9 the courtroom?
10 A I couldn't identify him, n
o.
11 Q How about a person named Anthony Myers?
12 THE COURT: Myers, M E Y E R S?
13 MR. DUNN: M Y E R S.
14 A I don't recall.
15 Q Sam Christopher.
16 A No, I don't recall.
17 Q Michael Cain?
18 THE COURT: How do you spell Cain? Please spell
19 these names, Mr. Dunn.
20 MR. DUNN: Sure, your Honor. C A I N.
21 A Yes, I recall Mr. Cain.
22 Q Was that a person who worked in the similar position
23 you did? 24 A Yes. 25 Q How about a person name Mark Johnson, J O H N S O N?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2985 Pierre-cross/Dunn
1 A I couldn't put a finger on that.
2 Q How about Mark Berglass, B E R G L A S S?
3 A No, I don't recall.
4 Q Patricia Brent, B R E N T?
5 A No, I don't recall.
6 Q A person named Steve Henry, the last name H E N R Y?
7 A It rings a be
ll, but I don't recall it as well, as
8 the first name you mentioned.
9 Q Now, you said there were times you made four or five
10 sales a day; is that correct?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Were you considered one of the elite salespeople?
13 A For a short period of time.
14 Q And you weren't arrested, were you?
15 A No.
16 Q And when you sat down with Mr. White, did he advise
17 you that you have the right to remain silent?
18 A No.
19 Q He never told you you had to have a lawyer, correct?
20 A No.
21 Q He never told you that you were a target of an
22 investigation; is that correct?
23 A No. 24 Q As far as you are concerned, you were just doing your 25 job at Sterling Who's Who; is that correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2986 Pierre-cross/Dunn
1 A Yes.
2 Q Just following the pitch?
3 A Yes.
4 Q Following instructions that you were given; is that
5 correct?
6 A Yes.
7 Q Did you feel pressured to make sales?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Did you often push clients, potential clients on the
10 phone to get that credit card number? Yes or no?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Do you ever recall being told by anyone at Who's Who
13 that you were not to think when dealing with a customer,
14 that you were to act something like a robot?
15 A We were told to follow the script.
16 Q Were you told to do any independent thinking in
17 reference to that script?
18 A No.
19 MR. DUNN: No further questions, your Honor.
20 THE COURT: Anyone else?
21 MR. GEDULDIG: Just one or two, Judge.
22
23 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2987 Pierre-cross/Geduldig
1 CROSS-EX
AMINATION
2 BY MR. GEDULDIG:
3 Q Mr. Pierre, just to follow up on some questions that
4 Mr. Dunn just asked you.
5 In 1994 when you were doing this job, you didn't
6 feel you were doing anything wrong or criminal; is that
7 right?
8 A Towards the end of my employment I had doubts.
9 Q But did you ever feel that you had committed a crime?
10 A No, I did not feel that at the time.
11 Q And when you spoke with Mr. White, the prosecutor,
12 did you feel that you committed any crimes?
13 A I actually asked him.
14 Q If you had committed any crimes?
15 A Yes.
16 Q You were not aware of any crimes you might have
17 committed?
18 A No.
19 Q You didn't know what the name might be for the crime
20 you might have committed; is that right?
21 A Exactly.
22 Q And Mr. White told you that you had committed crimes?
23 A No, he did
n't. 24 Q And did he say that you had not committed crimes? 25 A No, he didn't.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2988 Pierre-cross/Geduldig
1 Q You didn't -- he didn't answer your question?
2 A He did not. He clearly stated I am not an object of
3 accusation.
4 Q Did you have any idea why Mr. White wanted to talk to
5 you when you first sat down with him and spoke to him on
6 the phone?
7 A The first person to speak on the phone with me was Al
8 Pagano.
9 Q Did Mr. Pagano tell you that they wanted you as a
10 witness in this case?
11 A Mr. Pagano wanted to talk to me so I could tell him
12 who of the company that I know.
13 Q And at the point in time that you had this telephone
14 conversation, you were then living in Terre Haute?
15 A No.
16 Q You were living in New York?
17 A No, Ne
w Jersey.
18 Q When you met with Mr. Pagano for the first time, was
19 it a face-to-face meeting or over the telephone?
20 A The first time was over the phone.
21 Q After that conversation you had to sit down where it
22 was face to face?
23 A Yes. 24 Q And he told you that he wanted to ask you questions 25 about your employment at Sterling Who's Who?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2989 Pierre-cross/Geduldig
1 A Yes.
2 Q During the course of that meeting did you ask him if
3 you had done anything wrong?
4 A Yes.
5 Q And what did Mr. Pagano say to you?
6 A I am not the object of any investigation.
7 Q Did he say to you, yes, you had done something wrong,
8 but you are not the object of any investigation?
9 A No. He just clearly stated I am not the object of
10 the investigation.
11 Q
Did you ask him if the information he was seeking
12 from you had to do with crimes which were committed?
13 A Yes, I did, ask him.
14 Q What did he say to you?
15 A There was suspicion for a crime and he just needed to
16 know more information.
17 Q Did you know what he was talking about at that point?
18 A I just answered his questions.
19 Q So, you didn't know what crimes he might have in
20 mind; is that right?
21 A I had suspicions even before I left the company. So
22 I would suspect that I did have something in mind, yes.
23 Q All right. 24 Now, did he tell you -- did he ask you if you 25 would be willing to come -- withdrawn.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2990 Pierre-cross/Geduldig
1 He told you that you were not a target of a
2 criminal investigation, or words to that effect; is that
3 rig
ht?
4 A Yes.
5 Q And he also asked you if you would be willing to
6 testify in a criminal case; is that right?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Which came first?
9 A The first statement.
10 Q So, he first told you that you were not the argument
11 of a criminal investigation; is that right?
12 A Yes. That's the answer to my first question.
13 Q And then he said to you, would you be willing to come
14 and testify in a criminal case about your employment at
15 Sterling; is that right?
16 A Yes.
17 Q So, it was clear to you that if you talked to him
18 about your employment, nothing was going to happen to you
19 with regard to a criminal charge against you; is that
20 right?
21 A Yes.
22 Q Did you have the impression when speaking to
23 Mr. Pagano, that he was soliciting you to testify in a 24 criminal case? 25 A No.
H
ARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2991 Pierre-cross/Geduldig
1 Q Now --
2 MR. GEDULDIG: I had a thought, Judge.
3 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
4 proceedings.)
5 MR. GEDULDIG: I can't think of it. No other
6 questions, thank you.
7 MR. LEE: Your Honor --
8 MR. GEDULDIG: I just thought of it, one second.
9 THE COURT: Go ahead, Mr. Geduldig.
10
11 CROSS-EXAMINATION (cont'd)
12 BY MR. GEDULDIG:
13 Q In this conversation you had with Mr. Pagano, did he
14 ask you about the Who's Who Worldwide operation in Lake
15 Success?
16 A He asked me if I was aware of it, and I said I
17 wasn't.
18 Q And did you tell him at any point in time that you
19 had no knowledge of anything to do with the operation of
20 Who's Who Worldwide, Lake Success?
21 A Yes, I have no knowledge.
22 Q And you said that to him?
23 A Yes. 24 Q Did he tell you that the criminal case in which you 25 would be investigating, would involve employees of only
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2992 Pierre-cross/Geduldig
1 Who's Who Worldwide, Lake Success?
2 A No, he did not say that.
3 Q Do you know any employees, or did you know any
4 employees at Who's Who Worldwide Lake Success?
5 A No.
6 Q You were Sterling, right?
7 A Strictly.
8 Q And there were two separate and distinct operations?
9 A That I understand.
10 MR. GEDULDIG: Now I am done. Thank you, Judge.
11
12 CROSS-EXAMINATION
13 BY MR. LEE:
14 Q Mr. Pierre, as you sit here today, it is still your
15 understanding that you are not an object of an
16 investigation; is that correct?
17 A Yes, that is still my understand
ing.
18 Q And that is after you described to Mr. Pagano all
19 your actions, all your conduct during your employment at
20 Sterling, even after that it is still your understanding
21 that you are still not an object, correct?
22 A Yes.
23 MR. LEE: No questions. 24 THE COURT: Anything else? 25 Redirect examination.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2993 Pierre-redirect/White
1
2 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
3 BY MR. WHITE:
4 Q You said in answer to Mr. Geduldig's questions that
5 you had suspicion about the company before you left in
6 August of '94; is that correct?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Tell us what suspicions you had.
9 MR. TRABULUS: Objection.
10 THE COURT: Overruled.
11 A I had suspicions about the veracity of the script,
12 and the overall legitimacy of the business. I had always
13 been very involved in any company I work in. And this one
14 was one that I couldn't know any further than what was
15 given to me.
16 Q And how did the questions about the veracity that you
17 mentioned, how did that arise?
18 A Well, I started to analyze my sales pitch.
19 By the way, this sales pitch is not specifically
20 complete. There is another part of it where the person
21 does not purchase the preferred or platinum, they can go
22 for a third level, which is a little lower. The script
23 includes something of getting a Who's Who executive 24 edition in soft cover instead of hard cover, etcetera. 25 I am just figuring out that I am selling the same
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2994 Pierre-redirect/White
1 product, virtually the same membership on three different
2 prices. And that didn't make too much sense to
me. Nor
3 was it explained to me.
4 MR. GEDULDIG: Judge, I am going to object to the
5 line of questioning because it relates to Sterling, having
6 nothing to do with Who's Who Worldwide, Lake Success.
7 THE COURT: I advised the jury that all this
8 testimony relates to Sterling.
9 MR. GEDULDIG: I am talking about the
10 publication. He is talking about a soft cover book.
11 There was no such soft cover book at Lake Success. He is
12 going on about suspicions he had about Sterling that
13 doesn't apply to the Lake Success operation.
14 THE COURT: I decline to strike the testimony. I
15 already advised the jury about the testimony relating to
16 Sterling only.
17 Q Now, again, in response to Mr. Geduldig's questions
18 earlier you said that you had suspicions. Did you have
19 any suspicions with respect to representations made to
20 customers --
21 MR. GEDULDIG: Objection to the leading nature to
22 the question.
23 THE COURT: I didn't hear the whole question yet. 24 Q Did you have any suspicions -- let me start again. 25 Did you have any suspicions with respect to the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2995 Pierre-redirect/White
1 representations made to members about how their names were
2 obtained?
3 MR. GEDULDIG: Objection.
4 MR. DUNN: Objection.
5 THE COURT: Sustained.
6 Q Besides what you mentioned about the different
7 prices, were there any other things in the pitch that gave
8 rise to suspicions on your part?
9 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor. Improper
10 redirect.
11 THE COURT: Sustained.
12 Q At what point in your tenure at Sterling did these
13 suspicions arise?
14 A I would say approximately between two and three weeks
15 before I left the company.
16 Q And how many weeks total would you say that you were
17 there?
18 A Approximately ten to twelve weeks.
19 Q Between nine to ten weeks these suspicions arose in
20 your mind?
21 MR. DUNN: Objection.
22 THE COURT: Yes, sustained.
23 Q Do you know how long any of these defendants were 24 employed at Who's Who Worldwide? 25 MR. NELSON: Objection.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2996 Pierre-redirect/White
1 MR. JENKS: Objection.
2 THE COURT: Sustained.
3 Q If you take out Exhibit 390, and look at the pitch
4 sheet dated 6/15/94.
5 If you can look at the paragraph numbered four,
6 the last sentence that says: The only thing we ask is
7 that you select your nominations very carefully, because
8 there's no guarantee of their acceptance.
9 Do you se
e that?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Do you recall Mr. Jenks asking you about whether
12 there was a person higher than you in the corporation who
13 could choose not to accept a member; do you recall that?
14 A Yes.
15 Q Was Rob Lamb higher in the corporation than you?
16 A Yes.
17 Q Was Michael Powers higher in the corporation than
18 you?
19 A Yes.
20 Q Tell us what instructions they gave you about
21 evaluating members' qualifications.
22 MR. JENKS: Objection.
23 THE COURT: Overruled. 24 A Basically stick to the pitch and try to obtain the 25 credit card of the potential member.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2997 Pierre-redirect/White
1 Q And under their instructions, were you to evaluate
2 the qualifications at all?
3 A No.
4 Q Did you ever make a sale that was rejected because of
5 a lack of qualifications of the member?
6 A Not that I have any knowledge of.
7 Q Now, if you look two lines down on that pitch sheet,
8 it says, Mr. Blank, we accept only 1,000 to 1,500 new
9 members a months out of ten to fifteen thousand candidates
10 that apply.
11 Do you recall Mr. Jenks asked you questions about
12 that sentence; do you remember that?
13 A Yes.
14 Q During your time at Sterling, what percentage of
15 members did you accept for membership that were willing to
16 purchase it?
17 A A hundred percent.
18 Q Did you ever reject as unqualified any potential
19 customer who expressed a willingness to purchase a
20 membership?
21 A No.
22 Q Now, if you look at Exhibit 338, which is the
23 objection sheet. 24 Do you see the paragraph number one that says 25 Marqui Who's Who? Do you see that?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2998 Pierre-redirect/White
1 A Yes.
2 Q And you said, I believe, in answer to Mr. Trabulus'
3 questions, that that would be used if a customer inquired
4 about whether you were affiliated with Marqui Who's Who;
5 do you remember that?
6 A Yes.
7 Q Now, is it fair to say that that objection
8 differentiated Sterling Who's Who from Marqui Who's Who?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Now, was there any such differentiation between the
11 two on the regular pitch sheets?
12 A No.
13 Q So, for example, if a customer called and did not
14 specifically ask whether Sterling was affiliated with
15 Marqui Who's Who, would you say anything to him about that
16 subject?
17 A No.
18 Q If a customer called and was confused regarding the
19 relationship, but didn't specifically ask about it, would
20 you say anything to him?
21 MR. TRABULUS: Objection, your Honor.
22 THE COURT: Overruled.
23 A Can you repeat that question, please? 24 Q If a customer called -- if you called a customer, and 25 he was confused about the relationship between Sterling
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 2999 Pierre-redirect/White
1 and Marqui, and did not specifically ask a question of you
2 about it, what would you do?
3 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
4 THE COURT: Overruled.
5 A If he does not make it a subject of discussion, I
6 won't either.
7 Q Now, if you look at paragraph four of that selection
8 sheet -- objection sheet, the one that says: How was I
9 selected?
10 Now, Mr. Trabulus asked you questions about the
11 two methods of selection that are set forth there. Do you
12 see that?
13 MR. TRABULU
S: Objection to form, your Honor. It
14 implies only two.
15 THE COURT: Overruled.
16 A Yes.
17 Q Based on your experience and first-hand observations
18 at Sterling, were you aware of any other potential means
19 of selection of members?
20 A There was none informed to me.
21 Q But, on your observations did you come to learn of
22 another one?
23 A Yes. 24 Q And what was that? 25 A Suspicions of mailing list.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3000 Pierre-redirect/White
1 MR. SCHOER: Objection.
2 THE COURT: Sustained. Strike out the suspicion
3 of mailing lists, the jury is instructed to disregard it.
4 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I am not clear? Because
5 it was not responsive?
6 THE COURT: No. The answer was not clear. It
7 was vague and speculative.
8 MR. WHITE: Can I rephrase i
t?
9 THE COURT: Surely.
10 Q Your conclusion regarding another possible means of
11 selection, tell us what that is based on.
12 MR. JENKS: Objection.
13 MR. DUNN: Objection. Asked to approach.
14 THE COURT: Denied.
15 MR. JENKS: Conclusion, your Honor.
16 MR. LEE: Objection.
17 MR. GEDULDIG: I join Mr. Jenks' application.
18 THE COURT: I will overrule all four of you, en
19 mass.
20 THE COURT: Do you remember the question?
21 THE WITNESS: It is a source of distraction.
22 THE COURT: They have every right to do that.
23 They have a right and not only that, but an obligation. 24 THE WITNESS: I understand that. I was 25 distracted by the reaction.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3001 Pierre-redirect/White
1 THE COURT: Okay.
2 MR. WHITE: I will repeat the question.
3 THE COURT:
All right.
4 MR. WHITE: I am not sure I can remember it now.
5 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
6 proceedings.)
7 THE COURT: Oh, for modern technology. In my day
8 I had to remember these things. Now they go look at a
9 machine and they can find out everything. Perhaps they
10 can find out everything.
11 Q Your conclusion regarding another means of selection,
12 can you tell us on what that is based?
13 A My conclusion was that there was a possible use of a
14 mailing list.
15 Q And on what was that based?
16 A On the response cards, on the ballots. The quality,
17 and the information written on those ballots.
18 Q If you go back to paragraph four on Exhibit 338,
19 which says: How was I selected?
20 Now, do you have, or did you have any knowledge
21 of whether the customers were sent a solicitation letter
22 prior to the t
ime you talked to them?
23 A No, I had no knowledge. 24 Q Would you be aware of what they were told regarding 25 such a letter with respect to their selection?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3002 Pierre-redirect/White
1 A No.
2 Q Now, you recall Mr. Trabulus' demonstration with
3 respect to searching for a farmer in the CD-ROM; do you
4 recall that?
5 A Yes.
6 Q And it your testimony that you had sold a membership
7 to a farmer?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Now, did you attempt to sell memberships to farmers
10 who did not purchase a membership?
11 A Could you repeat that question?
12 Q Did you attempt to sell memberships to farmers who
13 did not purchase?
14 A Who did not purchase?
15 Q Yes.
16 A I attempted to sell to anybody who had their name and
17 phone number written on a card.
18 MR. TRABULUS: Objection. Move to strike.
19 THE COURT: Motion granted. Strike the answer as
20 not responsive. The jury is instructed to disregard it.
21 Q Now, Defendant's Exhibit R, which is the plaque that
22 you were shown. It says at the bottom, memberships are
23 awarded to those persons who have exhibited excellence and 24 leadership in their chosen fields of endeavor. Do you 25 recall that that is what it says on the plaque?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3003 Pierre-redirect/White
1 A Yes.
2 Q Now, would a plaque be provided to all the members?
3 A Yes.
4 Q So, would the child who filled out the card in crayon
5 have received such a plaque?
6 MR. DUNN: Objection, your Honor.
7 THE COURT: Overruled.
8 A I have no knowledge of the products received by that
9 child.
10 Q Now, Mr. Nelso
n asked you about cards that you
11 received that said nomination on them; do you recall that?
12 A Yes.
13 Q And he asked you whether that meant that the
14 potential customer had been pre screened by another
15 member; and you said not necessarily; do you remember
16 that?
17 A Yes.
18 Q What did you mean by that?
19 A I would inquire within the company about that. And I
20 was given no information pertaining to pre-screening of
21 those ballots. So I would not be able to confirm that
22 that nomination was actually pre-screened.
23 Q And do you recall you were asked if other -- I am 24 sorry, if managers at Sterling advised the salespeople not 25 to lie on the phone; do you remember that?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3004 Pierre-redirect/White
1 A Yes.
2 Q Now, and what was the answer? Were you
informed of
3 that?
4 A Yes. We were informed not to lie over the phone and
5 to stick to the script.
6 Q Now, the managers were -- first of all, what managers
7 are you talking about?
8 A Rob Lamb and Michael Powers.
9 Q Now, that's the same Robert Lamb who told to you get
10 the mother's credit card of the child; is that right?
11 A Yes, it is.
12 Q And is that the same Michael Powers who told you not
13 to check on the member's qualifications?
14 A Yes.
15 Q And did Mr. Lamb and Mr. Powers hand out the pitch
16 sheets to you?
17 A Yes. They were responsible for that.
18 Q And they are the same people who handed out the
19 objection sheets to you?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Now, in Mr. Trabulus' demonstration of the CD-ROM
22 with respect to the artist yielded I think 40 some odd
23 names; is that correct? 24 A Yes, it yield
ed quite an amount. 25 Q And you didn't recognize any of the names as the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3005 Pierre-redirect/White
1 child that you sold the membership to; isn't that right?
2 A No.
3 Q But there were 40 some artists listed there, isn't
4 that right?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Have you been promised anything by the government in
7 connection with your testimony here today?
8 A No.
9 Q Do you have an expectation of receiving any benefit
10 from the government as a result of your testimony here
11 today?
12 A No.
13 Q And did you contact the government first, or did the
14 government contact you?
15 A The government contacted me first.
16 Q And when you were contacted and you were asked
17 questions, did you answer them?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Did you answer them voluntarily?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Did you answer them willingly?
22 A Yes.
23 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, no further questions. 24 MR. TRABULUS: Yes, I do. 25 Did you want to go? Go ahead.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3006 Pierre-recross/Schoer
1
2 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
3 BY MR. SCHOER:
4 Q Mr. Pierre, you indicated that one of the things that
5 bothered you is that you didn't know anything but that
6 which was given to you; is that correct?
7 A Yes.
8 Q And is that because this business was of the
9 departmentalized, the salespeople only knew what the
10 salespeople were doing, administration only knew what
11 administration was doing, public affairs only knew what
12 public affairs was doing; is that fair to say?
13 A No.
14 Q Did you have any contact with the administration
15 people?
16 A I attempted.
17 Q Were there administration people in the New York
18 office?
19 A There was one lady who was considered the supervisor
20 over Robert Lamb and Michael Powers.
21 Q And who was that?
22 A I do not recall her name very clearly. I don't
23 recall if it was Margaret or something to that effect. 24 Q Swendseid, does that ring a bell? 25 A I think it was Margaret. I don't recall her last
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3007 Pierre-recross/Schoer
1 name. But it sounds like it rings a bell.
2 Q Was there a public affairs office in the New York
3 office? The people who prepared the Tribute Magazine?
4 A Not that I know of.
5 Q And you said that -- Margaret Basalone,
6 B A S O L O N E, does that ring a bell?
7 MR. TRABULUS: B A S A L O N E.
8 MR. SCHOER: Right.
9 Q Does that
ring a bell?
10 A I don't recall her last name. I only recall
11 Margaret.
12 Q That was the only supervisory personnel over Mr. Lamb
13 and over Mr. Powers; is that right?
14 A To my knowledge, yes.
15 Q And there were no bookkeepers there, right?
16 A To my knowledge.
17 Q Did you open the mail?
18 A Mail?
19 Q Yes, sir.
20 A As in the company mail?
21 Q Yes, sir.
22 A No.
23 Q Did you ever see any company mail other than those 24 cards which were given to you? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3008 Pierre-recross/Schoer
1 Q Did you know what the company mailed out?
2 A No.
3 Q Did you know what the company received?
4 A No.
5 Q In fact, you weren't allowed to know what the company
6 mailed out; isn't that correct?
7 A Yes.
8 Q An
d that's because this business was very
9 departmentalized? Whoever told you, they were not going
10 to tell you about pre-screening, right?
11 A Not necessarily.
12 Q Well, you said you asked about pre-screening, and you
13 could get no information about that; isn't that correct?
14 A Yes, that's correct.
15 Q And that's because Mr. Powers wouldn't tell you about
16 the pre-screening; isn't that right?
17 A No, he wouldn't tell me.
18 Q And Mr. Lamb would not tell you about the pre-screen,
19 right?
20 A No, they didn't tell me.
21 Q They didn't tell you there was no pre-screening, did
22 they?
23 A No. 24 Q The Marqui questions that you were asked about 25 Marqui, were there discussions in your training sessions
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3009 Pierre-recross/Schoer
1 about the fact tha
t Marqui was not a membership
2 organization?
3 A No.
4 Q Was part of the objection that Marqui was a
5 publisher, that objection that you read before when
6 Mr. White asked you about it?
7 A Can you repeat the question again?
8 Q Was part of the objection that you read, that Marqui
9 offered no services, and that they were book sellers,
10 Exhibit 338?
11 A It does not state that. It states book sellers they
12 are book sellers.
13 Q And offer no services?
14 A Yes, that's what it states.
15 Q And it was your understanding they were selling not
16 books, but memberships?
17 A Yes, that was my understanding.
18 Q And do you know that Marqui Who's Who now sells
19 memberships, now that they put Sterling and Who's Who
20 Worldwide out of business?
21 A No, I wasn't even aware of the company at all, nor
22 have ever had the use of using that objection. Nobody
23 ever inquired about it. 24 MR. SCHOER: I have no questions. Thank you. 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3010 Pierre-recross/Trabulus
1 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
2 BY MR. TRABULUS:
3 Q Mr. Pierre, you mentioned that you were given some
4 nomination ballots as well as cards; is that correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q And I think you mentioned that in response to
7 Mr. White that you didn't have any independent way of
8 verifying that the nomination ballots had come from
9 members; isn't that correct?
10 A Yes.
11 Q And now, when you were given nomination ballots, were
12 you given somewhat different instructions what to say to
13 the people you spoke to when you made a call on the
14 nomination ballot?
15 A No.
16 Q Would you tell the people on the nomination ballot
17 that they had already mailed in, and you thanked them for
18 mailing things in?
19 A I would just stick to reading the script.
20 Q And you were told, were you not, that the people in
21 the nomination ballots, were people who had not previously
22 heard from the company?
23 A Repeat that question again. 24 Q Let's take what a nomination ballot is. 25 Were you given to understand that a nomination
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3011 Pierre-recross/Trabulus
1 ballot was something sent in by member A nominating member
2 B?
3 A Yes, exactly, that's the understanding.
4 Q And were you told when a nomination ballot came in,
5 that member B, the person nominated, had already been
6 spoken to or advised of the fact that they were being
7 nominated?
8 A No.
9 Q So, isn't it a fact that you were
given somewhat
10 different instructions to speak to the persons on the
11 nomination ballot?
12 A No, it is not a fact.
13 Q Now, do you know who had the final say as to whether
14 or not somebody would be accepted for membership?
15 A No, I did not know if she was somebody who had the
16 final say.
17 Q Do you know if it was Mr. Lamb?
18 A No.
19 Q Mr. Powers?
20 A No.
21 Q Do you know if this Margaret Basalone had anything at
22 all to do with determining whether or not somebody would
23 be accepted for membership? 24 A No. 25 Q I think you indicated that there were no bookkeepers
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3012 Pierre-recross/Trabulus
1 at the Sterling facilities; is that correct?
2 A I indicated that I had no knowledge, if any.
3 Q With regard to the Sterling facilities, were you
4 familiar with those facilities?
5 A I received only one tour the day that I started.
6 Q And did you ever have occasion to walk around the
7 facilities?
8 A That only day.
9 Q Only that day?
10 A Only that day, yes.
11 Q And was it your impression that there were certain
12 administrative functions that were being performed
13 elsewhere?
14 A I had no knowledge.
15 Q Mr. Gordon you say you saw only once a week or maybe
16 once every two weeks; is that correct?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And you were given to understand that he spent most
19 of his time on Long Island; is that correct?
20 A Yes, that's what we were given to understand.
21 Q And you were given to understand that there were
22 other operations on Long Island; is that correct?
23 A Yes. 24 Q And do you have any knowledge as to whether or not 25 cards, or
memberships, whatever, whatever the output was
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3013 Pierre-recross/Trabulus
1 when you were recommending someone for inclusion, whether
2 they were ultimately sent to Long Island for processing?
3 A No, I have no knowledge.
4 Q So, you would have no way of knowing one way or the
5 other, whether in Long Island there was an additional
6 screening that occurred; is that correct?
7 A That information was not available to me.
8 Q I think you mentioned before, Mr. White asked you
9 some questions about whether you were told -- you were
10 asked questions about whether you were told not to lie; is
11 that correct?
12 A Yes.
13 Q And to stick to the pitch; is that correct?
14 A Yes.
15 Q And then you were asked questions about Mr. Lamb and
16 Mr. Powers; is that correct?
17 A
Yes.
18 Q And when I spoke to you before, and I asked you as to
19 whether it was Mr. Gordon who told you not to lie?
20 A Also.
21 Q He also told you not -- to stick to the pitch?
22 A Yes.
23 Q He didn't tell you it was okay to put through a 24 child's card, did he? 25 A No, Mr. Gordon did not say that.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3014 Pierre-recross/Trabulus
1 Q In fact, he wasn't anywhere near there when you say
2 you did that; is that correct?
3 A Yes.
4 Q And if indeed that child never became a member as
5 indicated by the CD-ROM, you don't know why that would be,
6 do you?
7 A No, I wouldn't.
8 MR. TRABULUS: No further questions.
9 I may have another question, sorry.
10 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
11 proceedings.)
12 MR. TRABULUS: No further
questions.
13
14 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
15 BY MR. LEE:
16 Q Mr. Pierre, you recall when Mr. White was asking you
17 questions, and also Mr. Schoer referred to it, your
18 responses was something to the effect that I couldn't know
19 any more than I was given; do you remember that?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And also, you testified before that in response to
22 asking perhaps Mr. Lamb, one of your superiors, something
23 about a question, you were told something to the effect 24 that that is not for you to ask; is that correct? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3015 Pierre-recross/Lee
1 Q And I would be fair in characterizing that as
2 basically that was a snub to you? He said mind your own
3 business, correct?
4 A Yes.
5 Q And, first of all, I am correct, am I not, in getting
6 the distinct
impression that you are not receiving much
7 information from your superiors; is that correct?
8 A Yes.
9 Q But also, when Mr. Lamb said this to you, your
10 reaction was that you didn't think that was very nice of
11 him, was it?
12 A No, it wasn't very nice.
13 Q And in fact, you stated before, just right now you
14 had made a, quote, attempt, I think you said, to try to
15 find out more, right?
16 A Yes.
17 Q And that just wasn't forthcoming right?
18 A No.
19 Q And that frustrated you, right?
20 A Yes, it bothered --
21 Q I think you worked under a lot of pressure at
22 Sterling, you slip up, you don't meet your quotas, you are
23 going to get axed; right? 24 A Yes. 25 Q You weren't happy there at the end, were you?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3016 Pierre-recross/Lee
1 A No, I wasn't.
2 Q And your testimony here today is it against your
3 former employer? You are aware of that, right?
4 A No.
5 MR. LEE: I have no further questions.
6
7 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
8 BY MR. DUNN:
9 Q Good afternoon again, Mr. Pierre.
10 Mr. Pierre, Mr. White asked you some questions,
11 and you said, I believe, something to the effect that you
12 did not receive a benefit from the United States of
13 America; is that correct?
14 A No, I had not received any benefits.
15 Q No benefit.
16 In your view is it a benefit not to be arrested?
17 Yes or no?
18 A No, that's not.
19 Q That's not a benefit?
20 A It is not a benefit.
21 Q It is not a benefit to you not to have been arrested
22 for your employment at Sterling Who's Who? It is not a
23 benefit? 24 A No, it is not. It is a right. 25
Q It is a right not to have been arrested?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3017 Pierre-recross/Dunn
1 A Yes.
2 Q Correct.
3 MR. DUNN: No further questions.
4 THE COURT: Anything else?
5
6 FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION
7 BY MR. WHITE:
8 Q Mr. Gordon told you to stick to the pitch; is that
9 right?
10 A Yes.
11 Q Would that be the same pitch that gave rise to
12 suspicions in your mind after nine to ten weeks?
13 A Yes, it is.
14 MR. WHITE: No further questions.
15 THE COURT: Anything else?
16 MR. LEE: Just one, Judge.
17
18 FURTHER RECROSS-EXAMINATION
19 BY MR. LEE:
20 Q I am correct that you just stated that there was just
21 a lack of information given to you; is that correct?
22 A Short of information, yes.
23 Q And would I be correct in saying th
at your suspicious 24 are suspicions, they are not based so much on what you 25 knew, but what you weren't told, and your lack of
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3018 Pierre-recross/Lee
1 information is what your suspicions were based on, right?
2 A Combination of.
3 MR. LEE: Nothing else.
4 THE COURT: Any further questions?
5 MR. NEVILLE: Yes, Judge, I have a question. I
6 am sorry.
7
8 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
9 BY MR. NEVILLE:
10 Q Sir, you worked as a salesperson at Sterling; is that
11 correct?
12 A Yes.
13 Q You testified today that when you were there you just
14 followed the pitch, right?
15 A Yes.
16 Q And you did what you were told, right?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And as far as you knew you weren't doing anything
19 wrong, right?
20 A Starting, yes.
21
Q You didn't commit any crime, right?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Now, you left your employment in 1994, was it? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And do you know that sometime later on in 1995,
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3019 Pierre-recross/Neville
1 March, or there abouts, the government closed these
2 businesses down, you are aware of that?
3 A No, I wasn't.
4 Q Are you aware that the government came in with agents
5 and guns and badges, and arrested people and closed this
6 business down?
7 A At that time I was not aware of that, no.
8 Q Do you know it now?
9 A Now I do know it.
10 Q Now, if you -- let me ask you this: You left your
11 job there because you went on a European trip; is that
12 right?
13 A No, it wasn't a European trip.
14 Q You left to go back to school or something?
15 A Yes. It was a Cari
bbean trip. And I did go back to
16 school. And I left the job knowing that I was very
17 uncomfortable with the job.
18 Q Okay, uncomfortable with the job. Fair enough.
19 If you had been working there on the day that
20 those agents came in, and you had been arrested, you would
21 be sitting right back there today, saying I am not guilty,
22 wouldn't you?
23 THE COURT: Mr. Neville, please lower your 24 voice. 25 JUROR NO. 4: I didn't hear him.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3020 Pierre-recross/Neville
1 Q Yes or no, sir.
2 THE COURT: No need to shout.
3 A Could you repeat that question?
4 Q I sure will.
5 If you had been working at Sterling on the day
6 that those agents came in with guns and badges and
7 arrested you, put your hands in handcuffs and brought you
8 down to jail and charged
you with a crime, you would be
9 sitting right back there at that table today saying I am
10 not guilty, I didn't commit a crime. Wouldn't you?
11 A Possibly so, yes.
12 MR. NEVILLE: Thank you.
13 THE COURT: Anything else?
14 MR. WHITE: No, your Honor.
15 THE COURT: All right. You may step down,
16 Mr. Pierre.
17 (Whereupon, at this time the witness left the
18 witness stand.)
19 THE COURT: Please call your next witness.
20 MR. TRABULUS: I am just going to get my CD-ROM
21 back.
22 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
23 proceedings.) 24 THE COURT: I believe you were sworn, but it was 25 some time ago. I will administer the oath again.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3021
1 Step up and raise your right hand.
2
3 W E N D I S P R I N G E R ,
4 called as
a witness, having been first
5 duly sworn, was examined and testified
6 as follows:
7
8 THE COURT: Please be seated, state your full
9 name and spell your last name.
10 THE WITNESS: Wendi Springer, S P R I N G E R,
11 W E N D I.
12
13 DIRECT EXAMINATION (Cont'd)
14 BY MS. SCOTT:
15 Q Good afternoon, Ms. Springer.
16 Picking up from where we left off yesterday.
17 I placed before you Government's Exhibit 2
18 through 67, inclusive of numbered exhibits. There are
19 actually others here on the table which I will go through
20 with you individually.
21 Rather than repeating all of those letters that
22 we did yesterday, I have referred to them collectively as
23 2 through 67 inclusive, of the letter numbered exhibits. 24 THE COURT: Hold it one moment now. 25 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3022 Springer-direct/Scott
1 proceedings.)
2 THE COURT: You may proceed.
3 MS. SCOTT: Thank you, your Honor.
4 Q Now, Ms. Springer, do you remember testifying
5 yesterday that lead cards would come into the company and
6 salespeople would use those to make sales to the
7 customers?
8 A Yes.
9 Q And if you take a look at Government's Exhibit 9-D in
10 evidence in front of you, is that a lead card?
11 A Yes, it is.
12 Q Now, what information is -- withdrawn.
13 Is that a typical example of a lead card?
14 A Yes.
15 Q And what information is included on that card?
16 A Authorization, signature, the first name, middle
17 initial, last name, title, company name, just listed as a
18 currents organization, street address, city, business
19 phone number, along with the state and
zip, the industry,
20 organization, and expertise.
21 THE COURT: You are going to have to keep your
22 voice up. I can hardly hear you.
23 THE COURT: Please pull the microphone closer. 24 Q And that would be information about potential 25 customers; is that correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3023 Springer-direct/Scott
1 A Yes.
2 Q And do you remember testifying that when these cards
3 entered the company, they would be sorted?
4 A Yes, they would.
5 Q Could you explain how they would be sorted?
6 A By the code on the right-hand corner, on the lower
7 right-hand corner.
8 Q What would that code signify?
9 A The industry or the groups of -- I am not sure if --
10 I would say the industry. It would be like, let's say A
11 would be health care. You know, I don't know the
12 categories. I a
m just saying hypothetically. B could be
13 engineers. And it would -- the letter would be sent out
14 with this card. So it would be sent -- the reason it was
15 done this way was to track the coding of industries. I am
16 not sure why.
17 Q This was the coding of the industry of people to whom
18 those letters were sent?
19 A Right.
20 Q And to your knowledge, how were those people's names
21 obtained?
22 A Through a mailing list.
23 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, may I publish Exhibit 9D 24 to the jury? 25 THE COURT: It is in evidence, correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3024 Springer-direct/Scott
1 MS. SCOTT: Yes, it is.
2 THE COURT: Yes.
3 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
4 to the jury.)
5 Q Now, other than that sorting you just described, were
6 these lead cards scr
eened by anybody before they went to
7 the salespeople?
8 A No.
9 Q Now, was this true of Who's Who Worldwide and
10 Sterling Who's Who?
11 A I wouldn't know what Sterling Who's Who did because I
12 physically was not there.
13 Q To your knowledge, how many such lead cards came into
14 Who's Who Worldwide on a typical day?
15 A It is hard to say. Some days there could be 70.
16 Some days there could be in the thousands. It depended.
17 I would say it would depend on how soon the mailing went
18 out. If the mailing went out two weeks ago, cards start
19 coming in. And figure -- I am not sure.
20 Q So, it depended on the timing of the mailing?
21 A Yes.
22 Then they would slowly drift in.
23 Let's say cards are mailed out this Monday, this 24 past Monday, and the cards start coming in, could start 25 coming --
HARRY RAPAPORT
, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3025 Springer-direct/Scott
1 THE COURT: Could start coming in what?
2 THE WITNESS: Could start coming in that week, or
3 they could start coming in the following week. And then
4 they would slowly drift in afterwards.
5 Q Now, Ms. Springer, do you remember testifying
6 yesterday about the order form that the salespeople had to
7 fill out?
8 A Yes.
9 Q And do you remember describing the information that
10 the salespeople had to put on the order form about the
11 sale?
12 A Yes.
13 MS. SCOTT: May I have a moment, your Honor?
14 THE COURT: Yes.
15 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the
16 proceedings.)
17 Q I have turned you to Government's Exhibit 9-C and
18 7-C.
19 Do you see those in front of you?
20 A Yes.
21 MS. SCOTT: I say that those are for
22 identification, your Honor.
23 Q Now, from looking at those two exhibits, can you tell 24 how they indicate who the salesperson is who made the 25 sale?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3026 Springer-direct/Scott
1 A Where it says account executive, number one.
2 Q Where does it say that on the document?
3 A On the upper right-hand corner.
4 Q And is that where the salesperson's name would
5 appear?
6 A Yes.
7 Q And why was it important for this information to be
8 recorded on these documents?
9 MR. LEE: Objection. Leading.
10 THE COURT: Sustained as to form.
11 Q Why was this information recorded there on those
12 documents?
13 A So the salespeople would get paid their commission.
14 Q Now, are these documents typical of order forms that
15 you have seen throughout your time at Who's Who W
orldwide?
16 A Yes.
17 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, I offer
18 Government's Exhibits 7-C and 9-C?
19 THE COURT: Any objection?
20 Government's Exhibit 7-C for Charley, and 9-C,
21 for Charley, in evidence.
22 MR. SCHOER: Judge, those are offered against the
23 corporation and the people named; is that right? 24 THE COURT: At this point, yes, yes. The 25 documents being offered, these order forms are offered
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3027 Springer-direct/Scott
1 against -- is it Who's Who Worldwide form?
2 THE WITNESS: Yes.
3 THE COURT: And the salesman whose name appears
4 on the document only.
5 (Government's Exhibit 7-C received in evidence.)
6 (Government's Exhibit 9-C received in evidence.)
7 Q Now, Ms. Springer, can you tell us whose name appears
8 on the upper right-hand corner of 9-C?
9 A Scott Michaelson.
10 Q What does that indicate to you?
11 A He would receive full commission and he wrote the
12 order up.
13 Q Does that indicate to you that he made the sale?
14 A Yes.
15 Q Now, looking at Government's Exhibit 7-C, can you
16 tell us whose names appear on the upper right-hand corner
17 of that document?
18 A Laura Winters and Scott Michaelson.
19 Q What does that tell you?
20 A That Scott Michaelson originally made the phone call
21 to this individual, and either when the person called
22 back -- what it is, the person did call back, and Scott
23 Michaelson was on the phone or away from his desk, he 24 could be out to lunch, I don't know the reasoning, but 25 this person was then transferred to Laura Winters and she
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3028 Springer-direct/Scott
1 made the sale.
2 Q So, to your knowledge, when two names appear on the
3 upper right-hand side, that means the sale is handed by
4 two different salespeople?
5 A Not necessarily. The person on the bottom made the
6 initial phone call. I don't know in this case if Scott
7 Michaelson had called and tried to sell them a membership
8 the day before, and the person called back deciding they
9 wanted the membership, I am not sure under the
10 circumstances. But he did make the original phone call.
11 Q And what was the purpose to your knowledge of having
12 both of those names appear on that order form?
13 A So they would both receive commission.
14 Q And how is the commission divided between those two
15 people on that order form?
16 A The person on the top would receive seven and a half
17 percent. The person on the bottom would receive five
18 percent, pr
ovided that it was not an incentive week.
19 Sometimes they would receive as high as 20 percent
20 commission, and then it would be -- I am not able to tell
21 you the amount at this time of what the person on the top
22 would get, but they would get a substantial amount more
23 commission than the person on the bottom. 24 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, may I publish 25 Government's Exhibit 7-C and 9-C?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3029 Springer-direct/Scott
1 THE COURT: Yes.
2 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
3 to the jury.)
4 Q Now, Ms. Springer, looking at the documents attached
5 to 9-C, the other documents with the number 9 was, can you
6 tell us the name of who that customer was?
7 A David Ray, R A Y. That's the one you are referring
8 to?
9 Rita M. Rieger, R E I G E R.
10 Q Thank you.
11 Can you take a look at Government Exhibit 9-B,
12 which is I believe an invoice?
13 A Yes.
14 Q Can you tell us what that is?
15 A It is an invoice that would be attached to the
16 original order form. It would be a white copy that would
17 be sent out through the mail to the customer.
18 Q Who is the customer on that particular exhibit?
19 A Rita Reiger.
20 Q And can you tell us, does that exhibit typify the
21 invoices used by Who's Who Worldwide?
22 A Yes.
23 Q What information -- withdrawn. 24 Does the information on that invoice commemorate 25 the sale of the membership to Rita Reiger?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3030 Springer-direct/Scott
1 A Yes, it does.
2 Q Does it describe the type of membership sold to her?
3 A Yes.
4 Q Is the price?
5 A Yes.
6 Q
Can you tell us how -- withdrawn.
7 Can you tell us how -- what the invoice says
8 about who approved the sale?
9 A Who approved the sale?
10 Q Yes.
11 A I am not following. Who approved it.
12 Q Is there a box on the invoice saying approved by?
13 A Yes, Scott Michaelson.
14 Q What does that mean?
15 A SMI is his sales code. He wrote the order. That's
16 what this means.
17 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, may I publish Exhibit
18 9-B?
19 THE COURT: Yes.
20 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
21 to the jury.)
22 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, may I have a moment?
23 THE COURT: Yes. 24 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the 25 proceedings.)
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3031 Springer-direct/Scott
13 Q Can you tell us what those are, Ms. Springer?
14 A Order forms.
15 THE COURT: Those are order forms?
16 THE WITNESS: Order forms.
17 THE COURT: You have to keep your voice up,
18 please.
19 THE WITNESS: Sorry.
20 Q And are these order forms recording sales that are
21 made of memberships by the company?
22 A Yes.
23 MS. SCOTT: I offer Government's Exhibits -- 24 THE COURT: The ones you just named? 25 MS. SCOTT: Yes.
HARRY R
APAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3032 Springer-direct/Scott
1 THE COURT: Any objection to those?
2 Exhibits 3-C, 12-G, 21-B, 25-B, 27-B, 34-C and
3 41-C in evidence.
4 (Government's Exhibits 3-C, 12-G, 21-B, 25-B,
5 27-B, 34-C and 41-C received in evidence.)
6 Q Now, if you take a look at the upper right-hand
7 corners of these documents, can you tell us whose name
8 appears?
9 A Annette Haley, H A L E Y.
10 Q And are you able to recognize that handwriting?
11 A Yes.
12 MR. SCHOER: Which exhibit is that she is looking
13 at?
14 MS. SCOTT: All these exhibits.
15 MR. SCHOER: All of them?
16 Q How is it you are able to recognize the handwriting?
17 A By the name, because I dealt with these people on a
18 daily basis. I saw orders everyday that were written by
19 the salespeople. You get to know the handwriting,
20 especially distinctive handwriting.
21 Q I will hand you the next set of exhibits,
22 Ms. Springer and ask you to take it out of the sleeps as I
23 read them off. 24 Government's Exhibit 8-C, 12-C, 17-B. 25 MR. GEDULDIG: B as in Boy?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3033 Springer-direct/Scott
1 MR. WHITE: Yes, 17-B as in Boy.
2 MS. SCOTT: 19-C, and 45-C.
3 Q Can you tell us what those documents are?
4 A Order forms.
5 Q Do these order forms commemorate memberships into
6 Who's Who Worldwide?
7 A Yes.
8 MS. SCOTT: I offer the government exhibits I
9 just named.
10 THE COURT: Any objection?
11 Government's Exhibit 8-C, 12-C, 17-B, 19-C and
12 45-C in evidence.
13 (Government's Exhibit 8-C, 12-C, 17-B, 19-C and
14 45-C received in evidence.)
15 Q Ms. Springer, can you
tell us whose name appears on
16 the upper right-hand corners of those documents?
17 A Scott Michaelson, except for one which is Michelle
18 Kelley, K E L L E Y.
19 Q Does Scott Michaelson's name appear on the bottom of
20 that as well?
21 A Yes.
22 Q What does it mean that Scott Michaelson's name
23 appears on the upper right-hand corner of those documents? 24 A That he sold a membership. 25 Q If you can just take those documents out of the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3034 Springer-direct/Scott
1 sleeve.
2 I am showing you Government's Exhibit 11-C, 13-B,
3 15-C, 16-B, and 38-B, as in Boy, for Identification.
4 (Handed to the witness.)
5 Q Can you tell us what those documents are?
6 A Order forms written up by Laura Winters.
7 Q Do these documents commemorate sales made by Who's
8 Who W
orldwide of memberships?
9 A Yes.
10 Q You mentioned --
11 MS. SCOTT: I offer these exhibits into evidence,
12 your Honor.
13 THE COURT: Any objection?
14 THE COURT: Government's Exhibit 11-C, 13-B,
15 15-C, 16-B and 38-B, in evidence.
16 (Government's Exhibit 11-C, 13-B, 15-C, 16-B and
17 38-B received in evidence.)
18 Q You mentioned Laura Weitz' name appears on the upper
19 right-hand corner of the documents?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Do you recognize her handwriting?
22 A Yes.
23 Q How is it you recognize her handwriting? 24 A I processed orders for her for the duration of my 25 employment with the company.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3035 Springer-direct/Scott
1 Q Does the order form reflect her entire name?
2 A No, it does not.
3 Q How do you know that this order was complete
d by
4 Laura Weitz?
5 A Like I said, I know her handwriting. I dealt with
6 her for a long period of time.
7 Q And does the appearance of her name on these
8 documents indicate to you that she made these sales?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Finally, I am showing you another set of documents,
11 and ask you that you take them out of the sleeves.
12 (Handed to the witness.)
13 Q Government's Exhibit 43-C, 46-C, 48-C, 53-C, and
14 55-C.
15 Once again, can you tell us whose names -- whose
16 name -- once again, can you tell us what those documents
17 are?
18 A Order forms.
19 Q Again, for memberships sold by Who's Who Worldwide?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And can you tell us whose name appears on the upper
22 right-hand corner of those documents?
23 A Steve Walden. 24 Q Steve who? 25 A Walden, W A L D E N.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR,
CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3036 Springer-direct/Scott
1 Q Do you know Steve Walden by any other name?
2 A Steve Rubin.
3 Q How do you know that that is his name that appears on
4 the upper right-hand side?
5 A How do I know that it is written?
6 Q Are you able to recognize his handwriting?
7 A Oh, absolutely.
8 Q How is that?
9 A He has extremely distinctive handwriting. He usually
10 ends order forms -- he wrote a lot, so you could tell.
11 Q And does the appearance of his name indicate anything
12 to you?
13 A The appearance of his name?
14 Q Does the appears of his name on those documents
15 indicate to you that he made those sales?
16 A Oh, yes.
17 MS. SCOTT: I offer those exhibits, your Honor,
18 the ones I just named.
19 THE COURT: Any objection?
20 Government Exhibit 43-C, 46-C, 48-C, 53-C and
21 55-C in evidence.
22 (Government's Exhibit 43-C, 46-C, 48-C, 53-C and
23 55-C received in evidence.) 24 Q Ms. Springer, do you remember testifying yesterday as 25 to the procedure you followed once these order forms had
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3037 Springer-direct/Scott
1 been filled out?
2 A Yes.
3 Q And what is it exactly that you did with respect to
4 these order forms once they came to you?
5 A I would make sure that they were qualified and check
6 for the spelling accuracy of the spelling of the
7 salespeople.
8 Q And would you describe your job as being relatively
9 busy?
10 A Extremely.
11 Q Why is that?
12 A Because I was doing the work of five people for two
13 different companies, for Sterling Who's Who in Manhattan,
14 and for Worldwide out in Lake Success.
15
Q So, you were handling orders for Sterling Who's Who
16 as well as for Who's Who Worldwide?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And were you, as far as you know, were you the only
19 person for both companies who were checking people's
20 qualifications?
21 A As far as I know, yes.
22 Q Do you remember how old you were when you began
23 working there? 24 A 22. 25 Q And how old were you when you left the company?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3038 Springer-direct/Scott
1 A I would say 26.
2 Q Now, when you first started your job in 1991 at Who's
3 Who Worldwide what did you understand your
4 responsibilities to be as the editorial assistant?
5 A I wasn't there at that time point. I was answering
6 the telephones and doing data entry into the computer.
7 Q And once you got promoted to editorial assistance,
8 wha
t was your initial understanding as to what your
9 responsibilities were?
10 A To make sure that the customers were qualified by
11 their titles, you know, company, companies.
12 Q And what did you do actually physically with each
13 order at that time, in the very beginning?
14 A I corrected them, and made sure that they were
15 consistent, that the -- I don't know how to describe it,
16 but that the Registry had to be consistent. If it was
17 health care it had to be health care. It couldn't be
18 medical. It had to be one category. This way the members
19 could try to, I guess the word for it is "network."
20 Networking, I would say.
21 Q You are talking about the category of industry they
22 were working in?
23 A Yes. And also as well I did organization expertise. 24 I looked it over to make sure that they were consistent 25 and that they qualified.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3039 Springer-direct/Scott
1 Q Now, did there come a time you had a conversation
2 with Mr. Gordon about how to determine whether members
3 were qualified. It was around seven months possibly after
4 I started.
5 Q And this was to answer -- withdrawn.
6 Now, how did this conversation come about?
7 A There were certain orders that were coming in, and
8 they were written, let's say banking, if it was Key Bank,
9 some of the order forms are written up as financial
10 services. I would ask questions and make certain what he
11 wanted to have them listed as. That's how it came into
12 effect.
13 Q And what else did you want to know from him at that
14 time?
15 A If the people were qualified, what kind of
16 qualifications he was looking for.
17 Q Was this the first conversation y
ou had with him
18 about qualifications?
19 A Yes.
20 Q And who initiated the conversation?
21 A I don't remember if it was -- probably it was me. He
22 was very busy. He is a busy man.
23 Q And before that time did anybody ever instruct you on 24 how to determine whether a customer was qualified to 25 become a member?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3040 Springer-direct/Scott
1 A No.
2 Q When you asked him for this guidance, what did he
3 tell you at the time how to determine whether a member is
4 qualified?
5 MR. LEE: Objection.
6 THE COURT: What ground?
7 MR. LEE: Form, your Honor.
8 THE COURT: Sustained as to form.
9 Q When you approached Mr. Gordon, what did he ask
10 you -- what did he tell you at that time how to determine
11 as to whether a member was qualified?
12 A
By the title, by the company. If it was a cashier of
13 a restaurant, he didn't want them in the Registry.
14 Q What sort of titles did he tell you he was looking
15 for?
16 A President, CEO, CFO, COOs, CIOs, executive vice
17 president, vice presidents.
18 Q At that time did he tell you the types of titles that
19 members could not have?
20 A Just manager. It would have to have something before
21 it. It would have to be an operations manager. It just
22 couldn't be manager, like store manager. Store manager
23 was an absolute no. It couldn't be in there. 24 Q Were there any other titles that were not permitted 25 titles?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3041 Springer-direct/Scott
1 A Assistant.
2 Q Anything else you can think of?
3 A I am sure there is a lot.
4 School teachers, students, housewives,
things
5 like that.
6 Q Now, was it always the case during your time at Who's
7 Who Worldwide that the company would only accept people in
8 the category of CEO, or COO, president, that's type of
9 category?
10 A No, it changed.
11 Q Were memberships sold to people who had lesser titles
12 than those?
13 A Yes.
14 Q Who made the decisions to accept people who had
15 lesser titles?
16 A When I came across certain titles, like if it was an
17 assistant -- assistant vice president, it would be changed
18 automatically. He didn't want "assistant" to appear in
19 the Registry. So I was instructed to change it, cross it
20 off, and make it "associate."
21 Q Who instructed you to do this?
22 A Bruce Gordon.
23 Q Now, when people with lesser titles were accepted for 24 membership, what reasons were given for accepting them? 25 A It could be the duration of the membership.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3042 Springer-direct/Scott
1 Q And by that what do you mean?
2 A If it was a week where sales were bad, I was
3 instructed to take them.
4 Q And who instructed you to do that?
5 A Mr. Gordon.
6 Q Now, what other types of reasons were given by
7 Mr. Gordon for accepting people with lesser titles?
8 A Say that again? Sorry.
9 Q What other reasons, if any, were given for accepting
10 people with lesser titles?
11 A It would just be -- it depended. It depended on his
12 mood. It would depend. You know, he could come in one
13 day and say I don't want this, this and this type of a
14 person to appear in the Registry. And then he could sit
15 down and have his coffee, and two minutes later change his
16 mind. It wasn't consistent. It wasn't l
ike a standard
17 procedure I had to follow. If I felt the person wasn't
18 suitable for the Registry, I wasn't going to take it upon
19 myself to accept them or to not accept them. I don't own
20 the company. I work there. I took pride in what I did.
21 I believed I was doing the right job. But there were
22 times when I felt that it was bizarre, where there were
23 people who were getting excepted when they shouldn't be. 24 Q Now, you mentioned that when people with lesser 25 titles got accepted, their titles occasionally changed?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3043 Springer-direct/Scott
1 A They were altered quite a bit, yes.
2 Q Can you give us some examples of the types of changes
3 that were made to people's titles?
4 A As I explained assistant was changed to associates.
5 Store managers would change to -- it could be an
6 operations manager or retail manager, or area manager. It
7 just couldn't be "manager." If the customer was very
8 irate about it and called up and said I want this to be
9 changed, I wouldn't change it without asking. Because
10 that just, you know, wasn't something I could do.
11 Q In other words, you wouldn't change it back to what
12 it had originally been?
13 A No, absolutely not.
14 Q When you say without asking, who are you referring
15 to?
16 A Bruce Gordon.
17 Q So, when Bruce Gordon would instruct you to make a
18 change on an order form, what did you do when you recorded
19 the change?
20 A There was quite a few occasions where I would put
21 down, okay, per BG.
22 Q Why did you do that?
23 A For the fear of him coming in in one day and reaming 24 me, and at least I would have it, and I would say here is 25 the date, h
ere is what you told me to do. As per you it
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3044 Springer-direct/Scott
1 is okay.
2 Q Now, what was Mr. Gordon as practice when a person
3 indicated that he was the owner of a business?
4 A To change it to president. He did not want owner to
5 appear. Since anyone can own anything. I could list
6 myself as a computer consultant and owner of that. I
7 could list myself as a president of my own corporation.
8 But he didn't want owner. Owner just couldn't -- wasn't
9 acceptable, so it was changed to president.
10 Q Now, what instructions, if any, did Mr. Gordon give
11 you as to what to do, if the customer appeared to be the
12 only employee of the business that they listed on their
13 form?
14 A To put incorporated at the end of that.
15 Q And what if any reason did he give for doing that
?
16 A I would say, so the person wouldn't look like they
17 were the only person in the company. If it was an
18 incorporation, it was more than one.
19 Q Now, if a person was the president of a company or a
20 corporation, what, if any, instruction, were you given as
21 to what to write as their business expertise?
22 A If there was an incorporation -- if the person, let's
23 say was the president of Coca-Cola, Inc., it would become 24 corporate management. If the person was John J., 25 independent consultant incorporated, it would become
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3045 Springer-direct/Scott
1 corporate management. That incorporation was -- if it was
2 not listed there at all, and it was CO, as in company, it
3 would not get corporate management.
4 Q Now, what happened if a person's title could not be
5 altered?
6 A They would be altered.
7 Q Well, for instance, what if a person listed their
8 occupation as teacher or nurse?
9 A At times they would be given a lesser membership, an
10 associate membership, where it would not appear in the
11 Registry, their title, or it would appear in the latter
12 part of the Registry. The way the Registry was set up, it
13 would be lifetime, five year, three year, associates,
14 listees.
15 Q What is that latter section?
16 A Associate.
17 Q And what does it mean to be a -- an associate?
18 A It would appear as just the name, street address,
19 city, state, zip code, favorite book, author, favorite
21 university degree and affiliations. That would be
22 listed. But the latter part of it -- the upper part, I am
23 sorry, where it would say the company information in te
rms 24 of the industry information, expertise, product, that 25 would not appear.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3046 Springer-direct/Scott
1 THE COURT: Is this a good time to take a break?
2 MS. SCOTT: Yes, it is, your Honor.
3 THE COURT: I assume you are going further with
4 this witness?
5 MS. SCOTT: Yes, I am.
6 THE COURT: You may step down.
7 We will recess until tomorrow morning,
8 Ms. Springer.
9 (Whereupon, at this time the witness left the
10 witness stand.)
11 THE COURT: Members of the jury, we are going to
12 recess until tomorrow morning at 9:30. Please do not
13 discuss the case either among yourself or anyone else.
14 Keep an open mind. Remember when I give you limited
15 instructions as to -- against who, what defendant the
16 proof is offered, you got to remember that. If you
don't,
17 we will let you read back later on when you are
18 deliberating to make sure.
19 Keep an open mind. Come to no conclusions. We
20 are going to recess until 9:30 tomorrow morning. I hope
21 the weather holds well.
22 Have a nice evening.
23 (Whereupon, at this time the jury leaves the 24 courtroom.) 25 THE COURT: Do we know who the witnesses are for
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3047
1 tomorrow, Mr. White?
2 MR. WHITE: Yes, we do.
3 In addition to Ms. Springer, obviously, also
4 available as witnesses are Ms. Pitelka, P I T E L K A,
5 Ms. Pincham, P I N C H A M, Mr. Wheeler, W H E E L E R,
6 Ms. Carvel, C A R V E L, Ms. Henderson, H E N D E R S O N,
7 and Ms. Weller, W E L L E R.
8 THE COURT: That should suffice until tomorrow.
9 MR. WHITE: I have them stacked up per your
10 instructions, your Honor.
11 THE COURT: Thank you.
12 MR. WHITE: Can I explore one issue that will be
13 a recurring issue with some of these customers that I
14 think maybe we should iron out in advance?
15 A number of the customers -- obviously in issue,
16 an important issue with respect for both the government
17 and the defense is based on the cross-examination and the
18 testimony so far, is whether or not the customers were
19 dissatisfied prior to the time they received the
20 questionnaire from the government, and what their
21 evaluation of the product they received was prior to the
22 time they were contacted by the government.
23 A number of witnesses will testify about things 24 they learned from other people that affected their 25 perception of the membership.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3048
1 For example, there is at least one witness who
2 will say I purchased a membership on the representation I
3 was nominated. I subsequently, from speaking to various
4 other friends of mine and acquaintances, learned that they
5 had all received, or a large number of them had received
6 the same exact letter also telling them they were
7 nominated. That then prompts the witness to reach a
8 conclusion, or makes her question as to whether or not she
9 was really nominated, and whether the representations that
10 were made to her by the represent -- about the
11 representation process were accurate. On the basis of
12 that the witness complains to Who's Who Worldwide, and I
13 think maybe to other agencies.
14 I think that that is a fairly typical story.
15 There is some sort of intervening event they learn about
16 that colors their perception. And what they do after th
at
17 is only understandable if that is explained. And I just
18 want to either seek the Court's guidance, if it is
19 permissible for us to elicit, not for the truth of it -- I
20 don't want to get into that area again, I didn't have much
21 luck this morning. But if we can elicit what they had
22 been told or what they learned to make intelligible what
23 they did afterwards. 24 I think your Honor also instructed the jury on at 25 least one other occasion earlier in the trial about the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3049
1 distinction that it is not offered for the truth, but just
2 to the show what this witness did thereafter.
3 In some cases it is not intelligible of why they
4 would complain, if shortly after they purchased the
5 membership, unless you know that.
6 That's what I wanted to seek some clarification
7 on.
8 THE COURT: I don't think that such testimony is
9 admissible.
10 This is being offered for the truth in that
11 someone told them about some other persons being solicited
12 or being a member, or that other person -- this would
13 alert the witness to the fact that she or he was not
14 nominated. I don't know how you are going to get that in,
15 Mr. White. That is very -- first of all, this is not the
16 essential parts of the case.
17 MR. WHITE: What is that?
18 THE COURT: Whether they found out then or later,
19 or whenever they found out. I don't know if that is an
20 essential part of the case.
21 You are saying that there is a scheme to defraud
22 here.
23 There is a scheme to take money or property as a 24 result of fraudulent misrepresentations. That's what your 25 case is based on.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP,
CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3050
1 MR. WHITE: Correct.
2 THE COURT: It doesn't really matter than if the
3 representations were fraudulent, which you are going to
4 have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
5 It doesn't happen if the supposed victim is going
6 to find out by speaking to the government or a later
7 source, it doesn't matter.
8 If you are going to say you are proving they are
9 fraudulent because unknown people told her that or gave
10 her information, then I have a problem with that.
11 MR. WHITE: I agree, your Honor.
12 THE COURT: Then I don't know what you are trying
13 to prove.
14 MR. WHITE: I am sorry. Maybe I wasn't clear.
15 I agree that it doesn't matter when, if at all
16 they learned.
17 THE COURT: Of course.
18 MR. WHITE: Like Mr. Heinbaugh this morning
19 walked in, he still doesn't know.
20 THE COURT: They don't even have to lose any
21 money.
22 MR. WHITE: I agree with that.
23 All I am saying is in light of the fact that -- 24 maybe I should rephrase it this way as a fall-back 25 position.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3051
1 If the defendants cross-examine the witness with
2 respect to the timing of their dissatisfaction, can the
3 government bring out that they had registered a complaint
4 and the reasons that prompted the complaint? Otherwise --
5 THE COURT: The timing? You mean they didn't
6 make a complaint until they were advised by the
7 government? Is that what you mean?
8 MR. WHITE: Some of them made complaints prior to
9 when the government came in.
10 THE COURT: I don't understand what you are
11 trying to prove or why it is important to the case.
12 MR. WHITE: It
is not important, except the
13 defendants are raising --
14 THE COURT: You are talking about credibility
15 now?
16 MR. WHITE: I am talking about -- the defendants
17 are seeking to raise an inference that there was no fraud
18 on the basis that, A, the customer did not register a
19 complaint; or, B, did not register a complaint until after
20 the government contacted them.
21 In light of that I feel it should be relevant on
22 redirect to bring out the fact that what happened if they
23 did complain, and what prompted that. 24 THE COURT: Well, I don't think so, unless the 25 cross-examination is so unfair and so carefully crafted
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3052
1 that in the exercise of my discretion I will allow you to
2 bring out how they found out if that is so. At the
3 present time I will not per
mit that. It is an ancillary
4 matter. It is a collateral matter. It is not part of
5 your case when they found out or how they found out.
6 Unless they had an admission by a defendant, that would be
7 part of your case.
8 Otherwise by heard parties, a nameless third
9 party? No. I would not permit it.
10 Except, if I see that the cross-examination is so
11 unfair that to balance the odds I would allow some of
12 that. I haven't seen it so far in this case.
13 MR. WHITE: Let me make sure I understand your
14 Honor's ruling.
15 You are not permitting us to elicit what they
16 learned from third parties. You are not barring us from
17 eliciting that they made a complaint, for example, that
18 was not properly resolved?
19 THE COURT: Of course not, you can say they made
20 complaints.
21 Anything else?
22 See you tomorrow morning.
23 M
R. WHITE: One other thing, your Honor. 24 THE COURT: Yes. 25 MR. WHITE: I am not sure how to proceed with
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3053
1 respect to the categories that your Honor determined
2 yesterday were business records, but you didn't admit
3 specifically each one.
4 THE COURT: I just thought Ms. Scott went through
5 a whole litany of records. That's the way to do it. It
6 is not very interesting, and you might bore the Dickens
7 out of the jury and me, but -- I don't know any other way
8 to do it.
9 MR. WHITE: The ones Ms. Scott just went through
10 are the ones that the defendants, or the forms only that
11 the defendants themselves signed. So those would be
12 admissions.
13 The balance of those documents, the credit card
14 slips, the cards and the others -- my understanding from
15
Ms. Springer is that we had already laid the proper
16 foundation for those as business records.
17 Am I wrong?
18 THE COURT: I don't remember if you laid a
19 foundation. There was no objection. And certainly you
20 could have laid a foundation. She apparently used them
21 and knows they are business records. There would be no
22 problem with that.
23 You are talking about the documents we discussed 24 yesterday that weren't made by the defendant, the cards 25 that were signed by customers and attached and made part
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3054
1 of their records.
2 Is that what you are talking about?
3 MR. WHITE: Yes, the four categories of
4 documents, and the defendants had an objection to two of
5 them, and your Honor overruled those objections.
6 THE COURT: Why do we need to go over it again
7 now?
8 MR. WHITE: I wasn't clear that your Honor said
9 that you are admitting -- that you are ruling these are
10 business records, generically, these four categories, but
11 not specifically admitting those individual documents?
12 A That's correct.
13 MR. WHITE: I think we laid the sufficient
14 foundation now that we can offer them all. And I wasn't
15 clear by saying what you said yesterday, that your Honor
16 thought we had.
17 THE COURT: Depending on the objection.
18 I have not heard evidence that they were records
19 made in the regular course of business yet by anybody,
20 have I.
21 MR. WHITE: Ms. Springer testified to that
22 yesterday.
23 THE COURT: If she testified it was in the 24 regular course of business, and the duty of the 25 corporation to make them, keep and maintain them. They
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP,
CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3055
1 are admitted as long as they are relevant.
2 MR. WHITE: I believe she did. We will try to
3 pull out the transcript and look at it in the morning.
4 THE COURT: And give it to me by 9:00 o'clock in
5 the morning.
6 MR. SCHOER: I believe your Honor's ruling was
7 that in general that was true, but when each of the
8 customers took the witness stand, you would rule on them
9 individually because there were certain things that might
10 have been added or deducted?
11 THE COURT: Yes, and there might be writing on
12 there. Someone said there was writing.
13 MR. SCHOER: They did it with the two customers
14 they already put on the stand. I don't understand the
15 confusion. When he puts the next customer on, those
16 documents can come in if it is identified.
17 MR. WHITE: The customer doesn't have to see it,
18 if they are business records, they are business record.
19 THE COURT: If you lay a business foundation for
20 all the records by Ms. Springer, fine, we will deal with
21 each one individually. Because the defendants say some of
22 them may have other objections on them, such as writing on
23 something like that. 24 MR. WHITE: I will look at it again. 25 THE COURT: If you laid a foundation, and you
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3056
1 show me you did, fine. Then you laid a foundation for the
2 four categories of business records generally speaking.
3 Specifically, you will have to offer each one.
4 MR. WHITE: Okay.
5 THE COURT: And give them another opportunity to
6 object on the ground other than they are not business
7 records or admissions.
8 MR. WHITE: Okay, I see.
9 THE COURT: All right?
10 MR. WHITE: Yes.
11 THE COURT: Okay.
12 9:30 tomorrow morning.
13 (Case on trial adjourned until 9:30 o'clock,
14 Thursday, February 5, 1998.)
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3057
1 I-N-D-E-X
2 W-I-T-N-E-S-S-E-S 3 PAGE LINE 4 J A C K T H O M A S H E I N B A U G H.... 2783 18 DIRECT EXAMINATION............................... 2784 5 5 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2811 4 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2824 9 6 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2834 14 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2841 4 7 REDIRECT EXAMINATION............................. 2851 9 RECROSS-EXAMINATION.............................. 2855 18 8 RECROSS-EXAMINATION..................
............ 2864 18 FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION..................... 2865 18 9 E L L E R Y P I E R R E.................... 2872 1 10 DIRECT EXAMINATION............................... 2872 13 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION............................ 2886 13 11 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION............................ 2888 3 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION............................ 2889 6 12 DIRECT EXAMINATION (cont'd)...................... 2893 2 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2909 4 13 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2942 10 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2949 12 14 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2979 6 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2982 9 15 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2987 1 CROSS-EXAMINATION................................ 2992 12 16 REDIRECT EXAMINATION............................. 2993 2 RECROSS-EXAMINATION.............................. 3006 2 17 RECROSS-EXAMINATION.............................. 3010 1 RECROSS-EXAMINATION.............................. 3014 14 18 RECROSS-EXAMINATION.............................. 3016 7 FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION..................... 3017 6 19 FURTHER RECROSS-EXAMINATION...................... 3017 18 RECROSS-EXAMINATION.............................. 3018 8 20 W E N D I S P R I N G E R................... 3021 3 21 DIRECT EXAMINATION (Cont'd)...................... 3021 13
22 (Cont'd)
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HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3058
1 E-X-H-I-B-I-T-S
2 Government's Exhibit 52-FF received in evidence.. 2790 14 Government's Exhibit 52-F received in evidence... 2803 10 3 Government's Exhibit 52-D received in evidence... 2806 23 Government's Exhibit 52-H received in evidence... 2806 24 4 Government's Exhibit 52-B received in evidence... 2808 21 Government's
Exhibit 338 received in evidence.... 2891 18 5 Government's Exhibit 390 received in evidence.... 2891 19 Government's Exhibit 7-C received in evidence.... 3027 5 6 Government's Exhibit 9-C received in evidence.... 3027 6 Government's Exhibits 3-C, 12-G, 21-B, 25-B, 7 27-B, 34-C and 41-C received in evidence......... 3032 4 Government's Exhibit 8-C, 12-C, 17-B, 19-C and 8 45-C received in evidence........................ 3033 13 Government's Exhibit 11-C, 13-B, 15-C, 16-B and 9 38-B received in evidence........................ 3034 16 Government's Exhibit 43-C, 46-C, 48-C, 53-C and 10 55-C received in evidence........................ 3036 22
11 Defendant's Exhibit R received in evidence....... 2959 12 12 Defendant's Exhibit S received in evidence....... 2961 16 Defendant's Exhibit T received in evidence....... 2976 18 13
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HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
